What if Saga: The Android Saga
by The Digger
Summary: What if Trunks was killed by the androids? What if it was Gohan who went to the past instead? Feedback is appreciated.
1. Prologue: The past of Future Gohan

"They're here! Run!" Several people screamed. But it was too late. Before they had time to turn away, they were obliterated in a massive explosion.

"Heheheheh! I got fourteen, what about you?" Said a young woman with short blonde hair and blue eyes, laughing with a man next to her, with near-shoulder-length black hair and the same eyes.

"I think about," He paused and counted the number of charred bodies. "Sixteen."

"Did not, you liar." The woman scoffed.

"Did to. See?" The boy turned pointed to two civilians who were somehow not killed in the blast, and a thin yellow beam shot from his finger, destroying them completely. They both laughed as though they were playing a fun little game. But then to these people, this was all it really was. Ten years ago, these sinister androids were set loose upon the unsuspecting world to terrorize all humanity. Though the Z fighters, a powerful team of super warriors, had tried to stop these two nefarious androids, they were too powerful for even their incredible might. Now, ten years after the androids were first set loose on the world, the only one standing between them and humankind's extinction is one young man, the son of Son Goku, the strongest member of the Z fighters, Son Gohan.

"This has gone far enough!" The two androids turned around to see a man with short spiky black hair and an orange fighting gi. He was striding down the road at them with a look of pure hatred. The androids simply laughed.

"I was wondering when Gohan'd show up." Said the boy. "It just wouldn't be fun without him around." Gohan's stride broke into a run and he aimed a punch straight at the boy's face. His hair suddenly stood on end, turning gold and his eyes became a light green. His fist collided with the boy's face and he was knocked back into a car several feet behind. He smirked. "Not bad." He chuckled, picking the car up off the ground with a single hand. "But not good either." He threw the car at Gohan, who caught it, spun it around about three times, and threw it right back. The woman joined in, kicking Gohan in the gut, then hammer-fisting the back of his head straight into the ground. The boy advanced, smashing the car right on top of him. The car exploded in a flash of golden light as Gohan charged at the woman, and she gave a shove on his left shoulder, flipping him around. She and the boy simultaneously punched Gohan in the head. Gohan collapsed from the pain, and the androids proceeded to continuously kick him as he lay on the ground.

"Enough of that!" They turned to see a young teenage boy coming their way. He had light purple hair in a bowl cut and a very serious look on his face.

"Trunks! What are you doing? Get out of here! You don't know what you're doing!" Gohan yelled.

"I can't take this anymore! If I don't do something, who will?" Trunks said defiantly. He shot a beam of energy from his hand at the androids, who batted it away lazily, and laughed.

"You know something, 17? I think the kid actually means business." Said the woman coolly.

"He's either really brave or really, really stupid if he actually thinks he stands a chance against us. I say we should put this brat in his place. What do you think, 18?" Sneered 17.

"Sounds like fun." Said 18. They both dashed at Trunks, who was soon hit with a relentless barrage of kicks, punches, and blasts until, finally too bruised and hurt to stand, he fainted. "That was disappointing." 18 sighed. "You know, I think I'd like some new clothes, what about you?"

"Please. I like my clothes, thank you very much." said 17. "I'm not interested in girly stuff like clothes shopping. I'd drive you if ya want though." He tore a car door open, threw the people who were hiding in it out on the street, and offered 18 inside.

"No thanks. I'm not a big fan of your driving." 18 sighed.

"You okay, Trunks? Or should I be making dinner for only one from now on?" Trunks' mother Bulma asked two days later when Gohan and Trunks regained consciousness.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was just passing through and I was caught up in the mess." Trunks muttered.

"Just don't let it happen again." Bulma said desperately. "I was hurting when I lost Vegeta, I can't stand to lose you too." She started to tear up."

"Don't worry about it, Bulma." Said Gohan. "He wasn't hurt this time, but I do think that you need to think about our situation, Trunks." Trunks gave a guilty look. He knew that the androids were the most powerful beings on earth, he knew that charging in like a bull was just reckless, but he felt like he needed to do something to fight back.

"Look, I'm sorry." Said Trunks, frustrated. "I just need to do something. I'd rather die on my feet than helplessly at home, and I can't stand how many innocent lives are being lost. Gohan, can you train me?" Bulma opened her mouth, ready to heavily object to this statement, but Gohan raised a hand to her and replied,

"Okay, Trunks. Just promise me that from now on, you'll do as I say, no matter what."

"Promise." Trunks nodded. And in the following months, Gohan trained Trunks in the mountains on the outskirts of the city.

"Okay, Trunks, that's enough." Gohan said one day. He had been trying to teach Trunks how to attain the power of the super saiyan, a vastly powerful transformation known by the alien warrior race they were descended from.

"I don't understand, Gohan. How is it that you can just transform like that so easily?" he asked.

"It isn't quite that simple, Trunks." Gohan told him. "Though it does take a great deal of anger to become a super saiyan, it take a bit more than that. I don't really know how to explain it, but every time I transform, I remember of when I had to witness all of my friends fight and die and how helpless I was. It doesn't just take rage. It takes the absolute need to harness the power and the concentration to control it."

"I still don't quite understand." Said Trunks uncertainly. Gohan placed a hand on Trunks' shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. You'll see one of these days." Trunks flinched as a massive explosion erupted somewhere in the city. "Damn. Don't they know when to quit?" Gohan grunted. "Let's go, Trunks."

"But what can we do?" asked Trunks, unable to catch up with Gohan, who was flying so fast that Trunks couldn't even hope to get within fifty feet of him. The androids had blasted a crater in the city that had spread about 2 miles wide.

"I'm not going to put up with this anymore!" Gohan roared as he landed, smashing a prominent hole where he landed. He was already in super saiyan and his light green eyes glared into the matching blue eyes of the androids, who smirked amusedly at him. Trunks landed next to Gohan, panting slightly.

"Be very careful, Trunks." Gohan said to Trunks under his breath. "If things get too nasty, I want you to get out of here immediately. Got that?" Trunks gave a slight nod.

"Looks like he brought a friend with him this time." 18 teased.

"How cute." said 17. "The kid thinks he can fight us." Trunks, angered by the androids' taunts lashed out at 17.

"Trunks, NO!" Gohan yelled, but too late. 18 grabbed Trunks by the collar and yanked him back. 17 fired an energy beam at him, but Gohan ran forward and defected it with his hand. He turned around and chopped 18's arm away, releasing Trunks, who punched her in the left cheek.

"Didn't your mommy ever tell you it's bad to hit a girl?" She taunted. She punched him square in the chest, tripped him, then while he was still in midair, kicked him several feet, were 17 caught him and threw him into the ground.

"Damn you!" Gohan roared. "MASENKO!" And a gold jet of energy shot from his hands, hitting 17 head on. Knowing 17 was distracted, Gohan charged straight at 18, his left index and middle fingers outstretched. With his free hand, he brushed 18's punch away and caught her around the neck in the crook of his elbow. He rammed her into the side of a nearby building, tearing it down in the process. 17 kicked him in the back and 18 made to shoot at his head, but Gohan was ready for this. Letting himself fall forward, he effortlessly dodged her blast, whirled around and pointed straight at 17 with two of his left fingers.

"Makankōsappō!" Two thin beams shot from his finger tips, one straight, the other spiraling around the first. The blast impaled 17 through his right shoulder, causing him to stagger where his stood, a large gaping hole where the blast hit him. Gohan smiled, relieved the the attack worked the way it should have. "Hey, there's something I want to know." He called tauntingly. "Is that blood or oil?"

"You're not going to get away with that." 18 said coolly. Gohan leapt into the air, 18 following. They exchanged attack after attack in the sky, but it seemed clear to 18 that Gohan had the advantage.

"Not so cocky now that your friend's not here to back you up, are you?" He was right, and 18 knew it. Gohan broke through 18's defenses and sent her hurtling back to the ground. He soon followed and seeing both androids weaken and hurt, he held both hands to one side, building up energy.

"Kame... Hame..." he shouted as a bright blue sphere of energy built up in his hands. He then thrust them in front of himself. "H... uh?" He stopped abruptly, the blue ball of energy fading.

"Go ahead. Finish us off." 17 smirked, a bruised, beaten and unconscious Trunks held by the scruff of his neck in front of him. "That is, if you have the guts to do away with your little buddy." Gohan gritted his teeth, furious.

"That's a dirty move, you cowardly son of a bitch!" He snarled.

"Who cares?" 18 sneered. "So long as it works." This was exactly what Gohan was hoping to avoid. He wanted Trunks to be safe, to be able to run away if things got this nasty, but no matter what plans came into Gohan's mind, the androids could, WOULD, kill Trunks in a heartbeat.

"Here. Take him." 18 groaned, annoyed. She snatched Trunks from 17's outstretched hand and threw him over to Gohan. Gohan caught him and looked at 18 bewildered. Then all of a sudden, 17 lashed out and in a fierce swipe, severed Gohan's left arm.

The pain was so tremendous that Gohan normally would have cried out loudly, but because of pure shock, he didn't make a sound. He just stared at the place where he left arm used to be, his eyes very wide, his mouth agape as though screaming, but no sound came out. His ears rang loudly and his vision was somewhat blurred as he watched his severed arm fall to the ground. It should have taken seconds, but to him it seemed like hours, and without even knowing it, he fainted.

"Wha...? What? Where... Am I?" Gohan opened his eyes slowly, his vision still a bit blurry. The light hurt his eyes and he abruptly shut them tightly.

"You okay Gohan?" He didn't see who it was, but her voice was familiar.

"Bulma? Where am I?" Gohan asked hoarsely.

"You're at my place." Said Bulma.

"Agh. Not so loud." Gohan whispered, clutching a hand tightly to his head. It felt like it was going to split open at the slightest sound.

"Sorry." She said softly. "You're really lucky I found you when I did. Otherwise you would have died of blood loss."

"How's... how's Trunks?" Gohan asked after a while. "Is he okay?" He couldn't see her right now, but he knew by the sound of her voice that Bulma was about to cry.

"Sorry, Gohan. I'm so sorry. He's... he's..." Gohan, who finally opened his eyes, which were currently adjusting to the light, tried to extend a comforting hand to Bulma, but he couldn't feel it. He sat up and looked to his left. Where there should have been an arm, there was nothing. Just a bunch of reddened bandaging where a shoulder should have been.

"I shouldn't have brought him along." Gohan muttered, infuriated with himself. "I knew the risks. I knew what could have happened, but I let him come with me and I let him die. It's all my fault, and now there's no way to stop the and..." _SMACK! _.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, GOHAN!" Bulma screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Even in the face of the worst possible danger, your dad never broke down like this, and I have a hard time believing his son would break so easily!" Gohan rubbed the place where she had punched him, the right side of his face shone bright red.

"Sorry about that." He mumbled.

"Don't sweat it." Said Bulma kindly. "Just remember that if you ever lose it, I'll always be here to punch some sense into you."

"I'd like that." Gohan smiled. "So, how's your little project going along?" For that last ten or so years, Bulma had been trying to construct a device capable of time travel, though no one had ever taken her seriously.

"Pretty good. It should be up and ready to go in a few days." Said Bulma brightly. "You should take a senzu bean. "She added to Gohan, who had tried to get out of bed, only to a badly aching body.

"Can't." Gohan grunted.

"Why not? How many do you have left now?"

"Just like my arms, only one left." Gohan said gloomily. Because of the androids' attack, the plant that grew the senzu bean, a magical bean that can heal any wound, died out, and Gohan had kept a small bag of the last senzus in existence, saving them only for the most dire of emergencies.

"Then what better time to take it than right now!" Bulma insisted.

"No. It should go to Trunks." Gohan stated.

"That's noble and all Gohan, but in case you've forgotten he's..."

"Dead, I know." Gohan interrupted. "But it wouldn't be right to waste the last senzu in existence on myself. It should have gone to Trunks, but now that he's dead, nobody gets it."

"Don't be stupid, Gohan if you ate it, you could regenerate your arm." Bulma insisted exasperatedly.

"You think I don't know that? I'm not going to regrow my arm because this," He indicated the place his left arm should have been. "It's a symbol of my failure, and it would be an insult to Trunks' memory to get my arm back just for my own comfort." Bulma was ready to hit Gohan again, but lowered her hand in surprise at this statement.

"That is deep." She said simply. "Really deep. You really are just like your father, you know that?" Gohan grinned weakly. It was about three months before Gohan was finally healed enough to be able to get up and move the way he used to. Bulma had offered to make him a prosthetic arm, but he turned it down without a second thought. By the time he was back up and running, Bulma's time machine was completed.

"Well, this is it." Said Gohan. He had packed up everything he thought he would need for his trip and was bidding his remaining friends and family goodbye.

"Be very careful, Gohan! Please just come back! Just come back alive!" His mother cried tearfully.

"Good luck, kiddo." Said Bulma, patting his remaining shoulder comfortingly. "And if you see Trunks, let him know his mommy loves him." Gohan nodded. "I will. And I'll come back. I promise." He climbed into the time machine, gave a final wave goodbye, and in a bright flash, he had gone.

"Don't worry Trunks. I'll make sure that none of this ever happens. Not again."


	2. A Warning from a Mysterious Stranger

**That's right, I've decided to go ahead and continue this story, however I still would greatly appreciate a review. I like to get a bit of feedback. And for those of you who want Future Gohan to have his arm back, it's gonna be a while, but it WILL happen, just please don't nag. Well, all that said and done, Enjoy! **

It was an ordinary day for Gohan, working on his homework, reading his text books, waiting for the day his father would come back. He had been waiting anxiously for about two years and everyday felt powerfully disappointed every time the front door opened, hoping to see his father, only to find it was his mom bringing in the dried-out laundry. All of a sudden, he felt not just one, but several powerful energies. The phone rang, which Gohan promptly answered.

"Hey Gohan, did you sense that just now?" It was Krillin, one of Gohan's good friends.

"Yeah, you think one of them might be dad?"

"I don't think so, but it's possible." Said Krillin. "We need to go check it out. I'll meet you there." Gohan hung up the phone, changed quickly into the saiyan armor Vegeta had given him in their last major battle, and headed out the door.

"Gohan! Where are you going dressed like that?" Chichi asked. Gohan halted abruptly.

"To go see dad." He answered cheerfully. He ran out the door and took off, leaving Chichi confused. Gohan rocketed towards the place the energies were coming from.

"Gohan! You sensed it too?" It was Piccolo, Gohan's favorite mentor.

"Yeah, I think one of them might be dad." Said Gohan excitedly.

"Don't get your hope up too much, kid." Said Piccolo. "I sense a more dark presence, and Son's energy has never felt quite this sinister." They landed in a canyon several minutes later, where Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, even Bulma and Vegeta where already waiting.

"Hmph. I was hoping to see Kakarot, but there's nothing here." Vegeta scoffed irritably.

"Wait! Look!" Krillin pointed up in the sky. A massive thing that appeared to be a UFO landed in the canyon several yards away.

"I don't think that's Goku." Yamcha muttered.

"No. It's one of Freeza's ships." Said Vegeta, frowning more than usual.

"So this is Earth. Hmhmhm. How quant." Came a metallic voice. Out from the UFO came several foot soldiers and a short alien who was covered from head to foot with cybernetic replacements and implants. "Now, slaughter all the inhabitants of the pathetic world!" Freeza ordered to his men.

"I don't think so!" Surprised, everyone looked around for the source of the voice. On the top of a cliff side there stood a man with spiky black hair who wore an orange gi. He jumped down from the cliff and landed softly in front of Freeza.

"Hey, it's him!" Yamcha called brightly. "It's Goku!"

"What happened to him though? Gohan wondered. "Look at all those scars. And what happened to his arm?" Everyone gasped. Sure enough, where his left arm should have been, there was only an empty blue sleeve. Freeza gave the man before him a look of fright, which he tried to make seem like one of contempt, though not very well.

"Well, well. If it isn't Son Goku. I almost didn't recognize you." He said coolly.

"You must have me confused with someone else." Said the man. Freeza seemed taken aback. "And this is as far as you go, Freeza. You may have survived the fight with Son Goku, but now your reign of terror is over." Freeza burst into laughter.

"I see. You think you have what it takes to fight me. Ferha, what's the brash child's power level?" One of Freeza's henchmen clicked a button on a computer-like device on his ear, which emitted a series of beeps.

"Only 10? That's just sad." The minion laughed. The other soldiers and Freeza joined in. But their fun was cut short as all of the scouters exploded, shattering pieces of metal and glass everywhere. Everything went silent. Then, Freeza was sent flying forward and landed painfully on his face. He stood up and looked around.

"Who did that?" He growled, looking around. "Where is that pretentious little brat!" That pretentious little brat uppercutted Freeza's jaw, skyrocketing him. Freeza, enraged, threw a punch right at the boy, but no good. He hit him right between the eyes, but he didn't feel a thing, much less pain. The man raised his only hand which was soon surrounded by a glowing, silvery green jagged energy. He charged and gave a forceful chopping motion just as Freeza had done the same. A moment of silence followed in which both combatants were frozen on the spot. Then all of a sudden, Freeza gave a frightened gasp and as the Z fighters observed the battle, the saw why. Freeza had been cut perfectly in half vertically. Each half if his face was frozen in shock. The man turned around and in a blast of blue energy, completely obliterated galactic tyrant, not leaving so much as a trace of blood.

"That's definitely not Goku." Said Piccolo. "Goku's fighting style normally isn't nearly that aggressive." A soft, enthusiastic clapping echoed throughout the silent canyon as the man set back down on the ground. He turned to see another alien much like Freeza, only much larger, with a purple skin tone and two large bull-like horns protruding from his head.

"Very impressive." He said, walking toward the man, who just gave a low glare. "No ordinary man can defeat my son. Tell me something, would you be interested in joining my federation? You will have control over hundreds, no, thousands of star systems, entire races under your command to do your every bidding. How can anyone not be interested in an offer such as this?" The man simply said,

"Simple. I have no interest in working alongside a tyrant. I want to free this world from the likes of you." The alien simply laughed.

"I don't believe you know who I am." He stated powerfully. "I am King Cold, ruler of the galaxy, and the most powerful being in the universe."

"Unless I'm mistaken, your son was saying the exact same thing." Said the man.

"Perhaps, but that spoiled brat has never truly known power." King Cold scoffed.

"Until I got rid of him." The stranger reminded him coolly "That reminds me. What weapon did you use to kill him?" Asked Cold.

"Weapon?" The man repeated, slightly confused.

"Yes. Nobody has ever been able to defeat Freeza bare-handed, so you must have used some sort of weapon."

"Except me." Said the man.

"Interesting." Said Cold, a devious look on his face. He pointed a finger at the man and a narrow beam like a laser shot from it. The man dodged it effortlessly.

"What! I-im-impossible!" Cold stuttered, absolutely flabbergasted. "Nobody has ever dodged the Death Beam! Nobody!" The man pointed his index and middle fingers together at Cold, shouted,

"Makankōsappō!" and two beams, one straight, the other spiraling around the first, shot Cold straight through Cold's heart, ending his life instantly. He then turned to Cold's and Freeza's ship and blasted it to smithereens, killing all of the foot soldiers and henchmen inside and around the ship.

"That was my technique! How does he know it?" Piccolo gasped, absolutely flabbergasted.

"What the hell was that?" Vegeta roared, stomping his way towards the mysterious stranger. "How the hell did you manage to kill not only Freeza, but King Cold as well? Who are you!"

"Calm down, Vegeta." Said the man, a little exasperated.

"And not only that, but you can't even..." Vegeta froze. "Wait a second. How did you know my name?" It was a simple mistake, but a possibly dangerous one.

"I'm sorry, I can't say." Said the man, trying to seem calm."Anyways, if you guys are here to see Son Goku, he'll land right about there in just a few minutes." He pointed to a spot several yards away. "How do you know that?" Asked Gohan.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you that." Said the man.

"Who are you?" Asked Yamcha.

"Again, I can't tell you." If Vegeta hated this person before, it was nothing compared to the frustrated hatred he felt right now.

"What's wrong with this bastard? Does he think he's so good he can't even tell us his own name?" He thought.

"Well, it's going to be a while before Son shows up, so..." The man pulled a capsule from his pocket, clicked it, set it on the ground, and it burst to reveal a mini-fridge.

"Has capsule corp. even produced any of these things?" Bulma mused, more to herself than anyone. They all had a drinks from the mini-fridge as they waited, asking the man questions about him and where he came from, all to very unsatisfactory answers.

"Look. There he is." He said, pointing at the sky a while later. Everyone looked up excitedly, but saw nothing. All of a sudden, what seemed to be a meteor fell from the sky, dropping downward towards them.

"Don't worry. It's not going to hit us." the man told them, seeing everyone panicking, ready to run away. Sure enough the meteor smashed into the ground hard, creating a deep, massive crater where it landed. Everyone looked down into the crater to see a white pod sitting inside it, smoking somewhat from the atmospheric heat.

"That's a Ginyu Force pod!" said Vegeta, noticing the insignia on it. The hatch opened and a man with pointy black hair and an unusual outfit stepped out of the pod.

"Hey everyone! I'm back!" He said cheerfully, waving up at his friends. He jumped out of the hole to his friends who gave him a warm welcome, with hugs, greetings, and much laughter. He was back. Goku had returned.

"Goku, it's good to see you back, ol' buddy!" Said Krillin. "But there's something that's been bugging me. How did you escape Namek? I thought Freeza's ship was busted." Everyone went silent. This was a story they all wanted to hear ever since they found out from Shenlong that he survived the destruction of Planet Namek two years ago. "Yeah, it was." Goku explained. "I tried to get use it escape, but it was so broken the most I could do was work the coffee machine, which would probably do some good if I actually drink coffee. Anyway, while it was falling to pieces like the rest of the planet, I saw another thing fall in too."

"One of the Ginyu Force's pods, right?" Vegeta intervened, smirking back at the crater.

"Yup." Goku nodded. "And I was in a real hurry so I just let it take me anywhere but there. Eventually I ended up on this place called Yardrat, where the people there help heal my wounds. They even taught me this weird technique."

"Instant Transmission, right?" Asked the mysterious stranger. Everyone whipped around to look at him.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Asked Goku. He scratched his head. "Hey, um... Who is this guy?"

"I'd like to know that myself." Said Krillin. "But he won't so much as tell us his name, let alone tell us how he seems to know everything."

"Um, Son Goku? Could I have a private word with you?" The stranger asked, gesturing to the opposite side of the crater.

"Um, sure, okay." They both flew to the other side.

"I don't want us to be overheard because what I'm about to tell you is very important." The stranger stated. "If certain people know too much, especially most of them," He gestured at Gohan and the others. "It would be bad for the timeline."

"Timeline?" Goku repeated.

"I come from a time about thirteen years in the future. I know you can keep this secret, so I'm only trusting this knowledge to you for now. Exactly three years from today, the world will be terrorized by two androids, both far too powerful for you or any of the others to face. All but two of those people," He indicated Gohan and the others. "Will be killed without effort by the androids."

"Even me?" said Goku, nervously. The stranger shook his head.

"You never even had the chance to fight. In one year, you'll be killed by a deadly heart virus. Here, take this." He gave Goku a small vial filled with a dark green, semi-transparent liquid. "It's medicine." He explained. "This virus was incurable when you died from it, but there's a cure for it in my future. When the symptoms; extreme exhaustion, powerful heart and/or chest pain, show up, take every drop of that medicine." Goku looked confused at the medicine, then at the man who gave it to him.

"Who are you? Why are you telling me all of this?" He asked.

"I'm telling you so that when the androids come, when life as we know it is about to end once more, we'll have a fighting chance to stop it from ever happening." Said the man. "And if you really must know who I am, and I must ask you not tell anyone else this, I am your son."

Back on the other side of the crater, Vegeta was pacing impatiently.

"What are they blabbering about over there?" He asked irritably. "Why is it that bastard's only telling Kakarot?"

"I don't know, but he seems to know Goku really well." Krillin mused. "Did they meet in space on the way here or something?" Piccolo gasped, his eyes going very wide, his pointed ears twitched slightly.

"So that's it. That's how he knew." He whispered.

"What're you mumbling about, Namek?" Vegeta spat.

"Nothing." Piccolo muttered in a would-be-calm way.

"My son?" Said Goku, confused. "But I only have one son, and he's right over there." He pointed at Gohan.

"I know." Said the stranger, nodding in a friendly way to the long-haired boy, who looked back questioningly. "I'm him. I am Son Gohan thirteen years from now." Goku's eyes went very wide, his mouth fell to his knees.

"WWWHHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT?" This single word echoed loudly, practically shaking the entire canyon and hurting Piccolo's sharp Namek ears.

"Well," Future Gohan blinked. "I can't say I was expecting that kind of reaction."

"You're... you're really Gohan!" Goku blurted, staring incredulously at the future incarnate of his son.

"Yes." Future Gohan answered simply.

"That's... that's just..." Goku stuttered. "Wow. Wait until I tell Chichi. She'd have a heart attack."

"I'd rather you not tell mom about me." Said Future Gohan. "I've damaged the timeline enough telling you all of this. I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. After I'm done here, I'm returning to my time to better understand the extent of the damage. Until then, I'm afraid I can't tell you anymore about myself or the future. Look, three years from now on May 10th at around 11am, the androids will attack a small island just southwest of South City. Go there and stop them before they become too powerful."

"Got it." Said Goku. "By the way, one more question; what happened to your arm?" Future Gohan's expression sunk.

"It was... an injury from fighting the androids." He answered gloomily.

"Want a senzu bean?" Goku offered. "I'm sure that it'll regenerate if..."

"No, thank you." Gohan interrupted him. "This is a symbol of my failure. It would be an insult to the memory of Trunks and everyone else if I..." Goku raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Trunks?" He asked. "He's the son of Bulma and... damn it, I shouldn't have said that! Sorry but I have to go before I do anymore damage to the timeline."

"Will we be seeing you again?" Future nodded.

"I'll be returning to my time to make sure I didn't do too much damage to the future. I'll be back to help your battle here when I'm done. Good luck, father." He flew off and disappeared behind the canyon wall. As he walked back to his friends, Goku saw a large ship, supposedly Future Gohan's time machine float slowly into the air and pass through a massive red glowing rift in the sky. When it had passed through the rift, it closed with a bright flash.

"So Goku, who was that guy?" Asked Krillin tentatively. Goku explained everything he was told, taking great care not to tell them anything that would give away the strangers identity.

"A time traveler? Whoa, like something out of those science fiction books?" Said Gohan, amazed, though Goku was sure he would be even more amazed if he knew that it was himself from the future.

"So when and where do we need to be there to kick these robotic bastards' asses?" Asked Vegeta interestedly, pounding a fist into his hand.

"In three years at uh," Goku paused. "He told me, but I forgot." Vegeta gritted his teeth furiously, ready to strangle Goku.

"May 10th, about 11am on an island just southwest of South City." Piccolo spoke up, seeing Vegeta's reaction. Everyone stared at him.

"Uh, how did you know that?" Asked Goku.

"My hearing is much sharper than yours." Piccolo answered simply.

"So you heard everything he told me... didn't you?" Said Goku uneasily.

"Yes." Piccolo nodded. "Don't worry, I won't say anything that would threaten his future. In any case, they don't show up for another three years, so I recommend we use that time very wisely. The only reason we were defeated so easily in that boy's future is because we were unprepared for the threat, but now we have three years to be ready for when that day comes."

"Sounds good to me." Vegeta smirked. He blasted off, tearing up everything in his path.

"See you guys later." Said Tien as he and Chiaotzu left.

"See ya. Oh, and Bulma, take good care of the baby!" Goku called as he and Gohan headed home. Yamcha jumped at this statement.

"Bulma, are you really...?" Bulma shook her head, looking up at Goku, very confused. Then she shrugged and laughed.

"You know, if anyone but Goku said that, I'd be really freaked out!" She giggled. Yamcha didn't seem to think this was just an act of stupidity on Goku's part though.

"You're sure? Maybe I didn't... you know, on accident?"

"Yamcha, when was the last time we did it?" Asked Bulma hotly. Yamcha thought about this for a while.

"Never." He answered truthfully.

"Come on, it's Goku we're talking about," Bulma reminded him. "He's always saying weird stuff like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Yamcha chuckled, though he still wasn't sure.

Meanwhile, Future Gohan had returned to his own time. "Hey, Bulma, I'm back." He called.

"Oh, good. So the time machine works properly?" Said Bulma, putting down her next little project. Gohan nodded. "I just came back to see if this time hasn't been damaged by my interference on the past."

"No, no. The world's the same android-invaded hellhole it always was." Bulma sighed. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To go visit my friends." Gohan answered plainly. This wasn't entirely true. He needed to be absolutely sure that the future wasn't made even worse because of his interference. He flew around the ruined city, taking in every detail to make sure that is was the same as the day he left. From the damage to the city, to the androids wreaking havoc on the streets, to the Z fighters' burial ground, nothing had changed.

"Good." Gohan said, giving a sigh of relief. He set down at the burial site. After the death of his father, there wasn't enough time for him to be properly buried due to the androids' attack, so after the death of Piccolo, Gohan made a burial site for both of them, a site that unfortunately would also be filled by Tenshinhan, Chioatzu, Yajirobe, Yamcha, Krillin, Vegeta, and now Trunks, their graves accompanied with a symbol of the respective occupants. Every time he got the chance, Gohan would come to this site to speak with his fallen comrades, and pray for his friends' aid.

"Well, this is it." He said. "Today, I will change our future for the better, even if it kills me, I will make sure that I will never have to make this grave site again. Wish me luck, everyone." He bowed respectfully and left for the time machine.

"Well? Anything different than you remember it?" Asked Bulma.

"No. Not a thing." Said Gohan. "And that illudes me. I made so many changes to the past. I killed Freeza and King Cold, I told Goku about the androids, I even let slip about Trunks, who wasn't even born yet."

"I think I may understand this whole time travel thing now." Said Bulma thoughtfully. She wheeled out a chalk board. "This line here resembles our timeline." She explained, drawing a straight horizontal line along the center of the board. "This is the time when the androids attacked." She made an X a bit to the left of the center. "And this is the time you came out." She made a circle to the left of the X. "When you went to this time and altered the course of events, you must have created a new timeline." She made a diagonal line from the circle and made another horizontal line parallel to the first. "This Alternate Timeline is completely independent from the events of our timeline, so in other words, you may have changed the past, but you didn't even remotely change our past, nor our present." This took Gohan a minute to process, as I'm sure it'll take the readers to process as well. "So long story short, you don't have to go anywhere, Kiddo. No matter what you do in that timeline, it won't help us in the slightest."

"That's where you're wrong." Said Gohan firmly. "I may not have changed our past or present, but if I can help our friends in the past, then maybe, just maybe, I can do something to help change our future. Besides, it's too late to turn my back on them now. It'll be a grievous insult to our friends to give up on them now." Bulma smiled and shrugged.

"You're just like your dad." She sighed. "The time machine's ready. After this next trip though, it'll take time to recharge. At least three months."

"It's okay. I don't expect our battle against the androids to finish over night anyways." Said Gohan, packing the things he required in the time machine and prepping it for launch.

"See you later!" Said Gohan as he took off.

"Good luck, kiddo." Bulma waved.

Meanwhile in the present timeline, Goku was trying to convince Chichi to let Gohan train with him.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" She was yelling. "I don't care what it is, Gohan's studies are more important than..."

"More important than the fate of the world?" Said Goku. "Chichi, don't be silly. If the world is thrown into chaos, what do his studies matter? Come on, Chichi, listen to reason. This is important. Humanity is at stake here." Chichi glared at Goku, who looked scared yet hoping she would see reason. She sighed.

"Okay, I'll let him fight just this once, but once this threat to the world has ended, no more interferences in his studies, got that?" Goku nodded, smiling approvingly.

"Deal." He said.

"And YOUR getting a job!" She added sharply, pointing a threatening finger at him. Goku would usually complain about this, but instead he sighed,

"Deal."

"So dad, just who was that guy we saw earlier?" Asked Gohan that night while they bathed after a hard day's training. "I mean I know you told me he was a time traveler and all, but who was he? And how did he know you?" Goku didn't want to lie to his own son, so he simply told him,

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."


	3. The Prince of Saiyans once more

"Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!" Vegeta shouted furiously, as he tore up mountains and rocks in the middle of a deserted wasteland. He was so angry with the people he knew, the people he reluctantly called friends; the namekian, who could outclass a monster in his second form that Vegeta himself couldn't handle in his first, that half breed kid, who may be weaker than himself normally, but when angered or threatened, becomes more powerful than he could ever imagine, the boy's father Kakarot, that bastard Kakarot, who attained the Super Saiyan, a legendary transformation that's power exceeds the greatest in the universe.

And worst of all, that son of a bitch, the mysterious stranger, who he only saw a few short months ago completely destroyed Freeza and King Cold, two of the most powerful beings in the universe, not only single handedly, but without even becoming a Super Saiyan.

"This is just intolerable! I'm the Prince of all Saiyans! There's no way I should ever be outclassed by some low level, a half breed, a namek, or a kid who thinks he's too good to even give his own name!" Vegeta roared, causing all the mountains to crumble and fall down upon him. He gave another furious roar, shattering the stone into tiny fragments and blasting them everywhere. He was half tempted to just destroy the entire earth right then and there, he certainly had the power to do that. He heard an odd rattling sound, and turned around to see a rattle snake glaring madly at him, the rattle on the end of its tail shaking threateningly.

"You'll back off if you know what's good for you." Vegeta told the snake coolly. The snake ignored his words and struck. "Fool." He said, firing an energy blast, obliterating the snake and kicked up a lot of sand. He covered his eyes, trying to rub the sand out, and coughed as a lot of sand got in his mouth. Finally, his eyes had been cleared, and he was breathing properly. "Unacceptable! How long must I endure this humiliation!"

"Get over yourself, Vegeta. Your race is extinct, you're no prince. Not anymore." Vegeta whipped around and saw Piccolo approaching him, his long cape blowing in the wind.

"Are you trying to start a fight, namek?" Vegeta asked threateningly.

"It'd be a good way to train." Piccolo smirked. "Though I suppose you're not a very good sparring partner. What good would it be to fight against a prince with no power?"

"Shut up, namek!" Vegeta barked. "What would you know about power?"

"More than you, I think. At least I could stand a chance against Freeza at one point. If I recall, you never did." Piccolo tormented.

"You're hanging by a very thin thread, namek." Vegeta growled. The green man just laughed mockingly. Vegeta charged and punched Piccolo hard across the face, then kneed him in the chest, and kicked him several feet away, and shot a powerful energy blast at him. When the dust from this rampage cleared, Piccolo simply smirked.

"All you managed to do was get my clothes ruined, but unlike you, that doesn't bother me." He taunted.

"What's that supposed to mean, namek?" Vegeta growled.

"Clothes make the prince, as they say on earth. It may anger you if you get a little dust one your fancy clothes, but I couldn't care less." Piccolo tormented, throwing his ragged cloak and turban aside.

"You're dead, namek! You're dead!" Vegeta roared. He held out a hand, and a ball of blue energy built up in it. Piccolo outstretched both hands and a yellow blast shot from them as he shouted,

"Masenko!" Just as the ball in Vegeta's hand was thrown and he yelled,

"Big Bang Attack!" The ball collided with the beam, and both sides struggled to push their blast past the others. Finally, Vegeta gave an almighty roar that shook the landscape and the blue ball powered through the namekian's attack and hit him head on. Vegeta grinned triumphantly, but raised a confused eyebrow as the dust cleared. Where there should have been some remnant of Piccolo, there was nothing, not even his ruined cape or turban were anywhere to be found. Vegeta couldn't even sense his energy anywhere nearby. "That was strange." Vegeta thought to himself. "I could have sworn… what?"

"Yo, Vegeta! What're ya doing here?"

"Kakarot? What do you want?" Vegeta scoffed.

"I just came to have a little match with you. You don't have to be rude." said Goku innocently.

"Yeah, just like the namek a few minutes ago." Vegeta spat irritably.

"Piccolo was here? Wow. You must be really popular today, Vegeta." Goku laughed. He gave a grunt and a powerful golden aura surrounded him, his hair stood on end and became the same color as his aura, and his eyes became blue green.

"Come on Vegeta. You turn Super Saiyan too." He said enthusiastically. A vein pulsed in Vegeta's temple. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. You can't do that yet."

"Why is everyone coming here to mock me?" Vegeta grumbled furiously. "JUST DIIEEEE!" He obliterated Goku in a single frustrated explosion. "Take that, Kakarot. I don't need to be a Super Saiyan to get rid of scum like you." He panted manically. He whipped around, fire blazing in his eyes.

"Alright. Who's next?" He shouted. He gritted his teeth angrily as he saw who his next taunter was. "Oh, great. You." It was the mysterious stranger who had literally singlehandedly killed Freeza and King Cold.

"Vegeta, I just came to make sure you're ready for the androids." He said.

"Oh, shut up. You're just here to mock me for being weak, just like the namek, and Kakarot." Vegeta spat.

"Big Bang Attack!" The man dodged the attack and kicked Vegeta square in the jaw. Vegeta growled angrily and aimed a punch at the man, but he blocked with his hand. Vegeta smirked. "His hand, well hand, is full. Nothing left to block with." He thought. He launched a second punch with his free hand, but the man kicked his fist upward, and then made another kick with the opposite foot, knocking Vegeta to the ground. He stomped hard on Vegeta's chest.

"You underestimated me because I only had one arm. Be lucky that you have that luxury." Said the man firmly. "In the future I live in, making assumptions like that can be fatal. It's the reason my time is the hell it is, the reason I lost my arm in the first place." He kicked Vegeta onto his side. Vegeta knew full well that the man wasn't trying to attack or fight him, but to demean and humiliate.

"I am the prince..."

"What?"

"I… I am the prince… The prince… OF ALL SAIYANS!" Vegeta cried out. In an explosive surge of power, Vegeta sent the man flying for miles and destroyed everything else within ten meters. He stood up, a murderous look in his eyes. "And nobody humiliates me like that. NOBODY!" The man ran up to him, trying to launch an attack, but too late. Vegeta batted him off, grabbed him by the arm, and threw him high into the air. He shot up into the sky after him and caught the man by the ankle. Then he plummeted down towards the earth, picking up speed all the while. Finally, he threw the man forward, smashing him brutally into the ground and forming a massive earthquake and an equally massive crater where his opponent crashed.

"No. I am a prince no more. I am king. The KING of all saiyans!" Vegeta yelled. Suddenly, he was surrounded by a mass of energy like fire, his hair, once jet black, was now bright gold, and his eyes, not a blue-green like normal Super Saiyan eyes, but bright red.

"Vegeta, you did it." The man panted proudly. Vegeta swiftly pointed two fingers straight upward and the man, along with everything in a mile radius, was completely annihilated.

"At last, I have ascended." Vegeta said proudly, his voice a bit hoarse. He powered down as he fell unconscious and collapsed on the ground.

"Ugh. What… where am I?" Vegeta awoke to find himself in the same barren, desert wasteland he had spent most of his life on earth living in, but the sandy plains were smooth and untouched, the mountains were completely intact, and nothing, as far as Vegeta could see, was different from how it was the day before his feral rampage. It seemed to be nothing more than a dream. "So I never became a Super Saiyan?" He fumed. He punched the mountain in frustration, but as he did so, he inadvertently transformed into the form he coveted among all else, though his eyes were the normal super saiyan blue-green instead of red. He grinned regardless.

"I am the Prince of all Saiyans once more."

**Sorry to everyone anticipating this chapter for giving you crappy filler. Next chapter will be the real deal, I promise. See you then. **


	4. The Androids

It was a normal day at the Son residence, or as normal as things get when the man of the house is an alien super warrior. Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo were doing their typical three-way spar in preparation for the android attack that would occur in about a year, when suddenly, Gohan made a brutal kick that connected with his father's chest. He fell to the ground, moaning with pain, his hands tightly clenched over his heart.

"I'm sorry dad! I didn't mean to hit that hard!" Gohan apologized.

"Gohan, get the medicine. Quickly!" Goku breathed weakly. Gohan gasped.

"What's going on?" Piccolo asked, landing softly on the ground next to Gohan.

"It's dad! He's ill!" Gohan said urgently. He lifted his father onto his shoulder and hauled him to his bed. Then he hurriedly searched through his things, searching for the medicine. After finding it in a small box in a drawer, he unscrewed the small bottle and poured the dark green liquid into Goku's mouth. He sputtered on it at first, but then swallowed it, and shortly after, fell asleep. Gohan gave a sigh of relief.

"Crisis averted, Mr. Piccolo." He called. Just then, the phone rang.

"Gohan, you there? We've got a problem! A big problem." It was Krillin again.

"What's wrong, Krillin?" Gohan asked.

"Listen to this." Krillin held the phone up to a radio, which blared:

"…_.Calibri Island was completely decimated by the collapse of the Subra Space Station. For those of you who don't know, the Subra Space Station was a research station that had been sent into space just three days ago. The cause of the station's destruction is unknown; however, many eyewitnesses state that two odd-looking people, one a teenage boy with spiky hair and a long coat, the other a girl the same age with white hair and mismatched eyes. These suspected trouble makers have been spotted near the station immediately after its destruction. Both of these people have been seen to wear an emblem resembling that of the long disbanded Red Ribbon Army, and are the prime suspects for the station's destruction. Investigators speculate…."_

"Did you catch all that, Gohan?" Krillin asked.

"Yeah. It has to be them." said Gohan.

"But how? Didn't that time traveler guy say they wouldn't attack until a year from now?" said Krillin.

"I don't get it anymore than you do, but we have to stop them right away." Gohan stated. "See you soon." He hung up the phone and took out the sword that he used during his training with Piccolo, and changed out of his casual clothes and into the ragged orange outfit Piccolo had given him during their training. "No rest for the weary." He muttered as he ran out the door.

"Gohan. What's going on?" Piccolo asked.

"It's the androids! They've attacked some island to the far northeast." said Gohan.

"That's three inaccuracies that boy's made." said Piccolo darkly.

"What do you mean, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked.

"First, he said that Goku's illness would appear six months after his warning." Piccolo explained, holding up one finger. "That didn't happen until right now, six months after the given time." He held up a second finger. "He also said the androids would attack three years after he left. They're attacking right now, one year before the given time." He held up a third finger. "And he said they would begin their rampage to the southwest of South City. They attacked to the northeast of North City. I don't think we can trust this man. He may even be the one behind the android attack in the first place."

"That can't be right! If he was, why would he even tell us the android attack would happen? If he really was against us, he never would have even shown his face to us, right?" Gohan reasoned.

"Whatever the case may be, now, when the world is in peril, is definitely not the time to discuss It." said Piccolo firmly. "We need to move fast." And with that, he and Gohan took off for North City.

"Hey, Gohan, where's your dad?" Krillin asked once they set down in the outskirts of North City.

"He couldn't make it." said Gohan. "He's too sick to even move right now."

"And just at the worst possible time, too." Yamcha grumbled.

"Where are the androids?" Piccolo asked.

"No idea. I can't find them anywhere, and I can't sense their energy anywhere." Krillin shrugged.

Everyone jumped as all of a sudden, about twenty explosions went off in the nearby city all at once.

"Damn it, no! Bulma's down there!" Yamcha took off, flying at incredible speed with fire in his eyes. He rocketed through the ever ruining city until he saw a man in red Chinese garb, laughing at the top of his lungs as he destroyed building after building. Yamcha, using his powerful momentum, launched his fist straight into the man's face, knocking him to the ground.

"This isn't funny, you bastard!" Yamcha roared furiously. He hopped back and charged up the Kamehameha, but the man stood back up, removed his left arm, and began to charge a cannon that was hidden behind the hand.

"HAAA!" Yamcha screamed as an immense blue blast burst from his hands, just as the cannon fired a blast of golden energy. The two attacks made contact, the sinister man having a slight advantage over Yamcha. Yamcha roared very loudly and forced the blast back with all of his might. Slowly but surely, his Kamehameha pushed itself further and further towards his opponent, who looked panic stricken as he tried fruitlessly to stave off the attack. As though a shaken bottle was uncorked, Yamcha's already enormous beam of energy burst powerfully, obliterating the android and much of the remains of the already ragged city. Yamcha panted, totally exhausted from the intense clash. He chuckled weakly.

"I… I did it. I… he he… I won." He breathed hoarsely.

"Not bad, but I was expecting a little more from somebody who can honestly push back a Chou Dodon-pa." Yamcha gasped. The android stepped out from the dust. Though his traditional Chinese clothing was damaged and frayed, he didn't seem even remotely injured.

"Chou… Dodon-pa?" Yamcha repeated. He had heard that name before. "Wait, are you… No. You can't be. You're…."

"Tao." Tenshinhan finished as he landed next to Yamcha. "Do you recall what I told you at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai? If I ever see your cowardly face again…"

"You'll kill me? Spare me, traitor! You may have shamed me that day, but that was before I met my new master, and before I was reborn." Tao stated powerfully. "I wanted a body that could give me absolute power, the power to destroy you, the power to destroy all! And as luck would have it, one man, one sinisterly brilliant man, had the ability to give me that power. Dr. Gero. The good doctor restored what I had lost at the hands of that Son Goku brat," Sure enough, Tien and Yamcha noticed that Tao's body, which had previously been terribly mangled, was back to its original state, save the front of his torso, which was slightly visible through his tattered clothing, and bore a large metal plate across it with a small red emblem with two letter R's, and his left eye, which had what seemed to be a blue lens over the front of it. "And gave me a new body, one that is unmatched in heaven and earth. I am no longer the shameful mercenary Tao. I am the mighty Android 22!" Tien and Yamcha noticed that some sort of writing or symbols were flashing and running across Tao's blue eye.

"44,450? 45,080? What a joke. How could such a small power level push through one of my attacks?" Tao barked with laughter. He removed his left hand again, pointed the concealed cannon at them, and simply said, "Die." before firing blast after blast at Yamcha and Tien.

"Gohan, stay close." Piccolo instructed as they searched the city. Gohan simply nodded. A sudden explosion tore down a skyscraper, which crashed on top of Piccolo, and something grabbed Gohan from behind and pulled him away from Piccolo. He was thrown against a fallen traffic light, and he was greeted by an arrogant-looking teenage boy with spiky black hair and a long black coat with a high collar.

"So, you think you're actually fit to wield a sword, kid?" He spat, drawing a long katana and pointing it at Gohan. Gohan made to turn away from him, but he was pushed back by a girl with long, snow white hair.

"Act like a man, boy." She told him teasingly. Gohan couldn't help but blush at the sight of this girl, even though he knew full well she was evil. She looked very pretty, her young face was almost flawless and her eyes, although differently colored, were almost hypnotically beautiful, the left eye deep blue, the right emerald green.

Reluctantly, Gohan drew his sword and just in time block the boy's sudden strike. He struck at him, but the boy edged to the side easily and kicked Gohan in the back. Then he charged, his katana raised, but just as he was about to strike down the defenseless kid, a hand reached out and stopped the sword in its tracks.

"Do you think it makes you look strong to dominate over a child?" It was the mysterious stranger. He was glowering at the boy, easily blocking his sword with his only hand. His glare was soon replaced with a look of confusion.

"Wait. You're the androids!" he said, puzzled.

"Yeah." said the white-haired girl, stepping forward. "I'm Android 20."

"And I'm Android 21." The boy with the sword added.

"You're not the ones." the stranger muttered, still clearly very confused. "And the time of the attack. It was one year off from the actual time. I don't understand. Is this the result of my time interference?"

"Hey!" Android 21 piped up. "I don't know what it is you're mumbling to yourself about over there, but it's pretty rude to interrupt our fight like that." He pointed his katana at him. "If you want a fight, one-arm, you're going to have to wait your turn."

"I'll take him off your hands, 21." Said 20. She stood exactly ten paces away from the stranger, bowed, urged the stranger to do the same, and then, once they had both taken their stances, she leapt at him, ready to strike.

"Masenko!" The stranger yelled, holding his only hand out and firing a yellow energy blast at her, but rather than knocking her back, he was the one sent flying backward into a ruined building. "What was that?" He asked himself. She flew at him and aimed a punch at his chest, but he blocked with his hand. She aimed a second punch with her free hand, but much to her surprise, he blocked it with a kick. She attempted a kick at him, but he blocked with his other foot.

"Big mistake. Your hand and feet are tied." 20 shouted triumphantly. She aimed yet another kick at his head with her free leg, but much to her shock, he blocked that one too, or rather caught between his chest and chin.

"All tied up, 20." He said. Still holding her, he dived straight to the ground, with her underneath him. He pushed her hard, and before she hit the ground, he pointed his middle and index fingers at her and shouted, "Makankōsappō!" and the thin, spiraling double beam shot from the fingertips, but much to his utter shock, the attack impaled not her, but him! Badly hurt, he fell to the ground very hard with a nasty-sounding _thud._

"It' been fun scar face," said 20 teasingly. "But I have to go now. Later." She planted a small kiss on his check, causing him to blush a fine shade of red, giggled at his surprised face, and took off.

"You're good, kid. Even though you're not an android, you can really fight." 21 said, quite impressed with Gohan's swordsmanship skills. Gohan pulled an obscure trick in which he twists his blade around 21's, and sent the Japanese sword flying out of his hands. He then struck with all his might at 21's chest. The blade made contact. But much to the surprise of both Gohan and 21, he was completely unharmed. "Really? You're strong enough to best me in a sword fight, clever enough to disarm me, but too weak to even hurt me? With a blade, no less?" 21 laughed, feeling stupid for being concerned about losing to the child. He kicked his sword back into his hand and sheathed it, walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going? We didn't finish." Gohan called to him. He then felt like hitting himself. Why would he want to continue fighting someone who could easily kick the tar out of him?

"Yes, we are done." 21 stated, not even breaking his stride our looking back. "I'm not interested in fighting someone so weak. I only continued fighting you because I thought you were a challenge." Gohan looked confusedly at the android's back, of which whose coat bore the double R emblem of the Red Ribbon Army.

"I guess I should go look for Mr. Piccolo then." He said to himself, leaving the vicinity.

"Help! Please help!" Piccolo turned to see two very small children trapped under a pile of rubble, crying in pain and fear. The falling skyscraper, as he well knew, wouldn't hurt him even remotely, but it would certainly and painfully kill these kids. He tried to free them from the rubble, but it was too late. With a deafening _crasssshh, _the building fell on all of them. Piccolo's face sunk at the thought of the children, but then, he heard the sound of tearing metal and glass. He rose in the air slightly, and to his utter bewilderment, an enormous man, at least ten feet tall, was pushing his way through the wreckage, both children tucked safely under his massive arms. When he was free of the wreckage, the man set the children down carefully, and asked in a low and heavy, yet gentle voice,

"Are you alright?" The children looked up, scared and surprised. One of them, a girl with curly brown hair, nodded shakily as she starred up at the gentle giant, who looked around, his expression full of sorrow. "Do you know where your parents are?" He asked.

"They're gone. They're both dead." The other child, a boy with messy black hair choked as he and his sister sobbed loudly. The giant man's face looked even more remorseful.

"I am… sorry to hear that." He muttered. "I can take you to a place where you can be safe." He picked both of the kids up in one hand and walked away. A barrage of blasts hit the giant man head on.

"What are you doing, 19?" The giant man asked.

"It is our orders. All humans must die." said a high, metallic voice. A rather fat man with chalk white skin was glaring robotically at the giant man, who was twice his own size.

"They are only innocent children. They do not deserve to die." said the giant.

"You are disobeying orders, Android 24. You are defective. You must be terminated." 19 stated, as though programmed to say so. And since he was an android, Piccolo thought, he probably was. 19 shot many small ki blasts from its finger tips, not at 24, but at the children in his arm. Piccolo jumped in front and took the shots for him. The shots stung, but not too badly. 19 clearly had no intention of hitting 24.

"Data logs indicate that you are Piccolo." said 19. "Power level 1153gp, 4th strongest fighter in Dr. Gero's databanks. Probability of defeating: 85.3%." Piccolo stared blankly at the android.

"Was this toy really what destroyed us?" He thought, unable to see how this machine could pose such a threat as mass genocide on the Z fighters, as well as the human race.

"Known abilities include; Masenko, Makankōsappō, Multi-form, and at least three other techniques. Probability of defeating: 93.7%."

"Masenko!" Piccolo roared, firing the yellow beam straight at the android, who seemed unworried about the beam and held out a hand, which seemed to suck the beam right into it. Piccolo flinched. He had never seen an opponent who could do something like this before. 19 lowered its outstretched hand, raised its opposite hand, and fired the Masenko right back at him. Piccolo's shoulder got burned painfully as he dodged.

"24. You must attack the target." 19 droned.

"I cannot. I have not been programmed to fight. Only to defend." said 24 simply. "I have no need to assist you in this battle. I must protect these children."

"Then you will be destroyed. As his prized creation, Dr. Gero has programmed me with the detonation codes for all of his lesser androids." 19 stated irritably. Though a hint of anger lingered in his voice, it still sounded like a recorded, pre-programmed voice. "Detonation for cybernetics project Jinzo Ningen experiment number 24 initiated. Destruction code input. 758-8523528-73504107-23…" Piccolo fired a second Masenko, this time from behind 19, who paused, turned, and sucked the attack into his hands like last time. 19 appearantly gave up on 24, because he charged at Piccolo. Its punches were much more powerful than Piccolo thought, but its movements had very noticeable patterns.

"I think I've found your weakness, android." Piccolo grunted, after taking a blow to the face.

"I have no weaknesses. I have been programmed for perfection. Nothing less." said 19. "Probability of defeating target: 100%." 19 hit Piccolo head on, but this time grabbed him tightly in one hand by the chest. Piccolo could feel his energy being drained as 19 grinned in a sinister yet very fake way.

Piccolo jabbed two fingers, which glowed with silvery green energy into the hand holding him. 19 let go almost immediately, holding his injured hand precariously. A great quantity of oil was spurting out of the hole Piccolo made.

"What's the matter?" Piccolo asked in a gruff, mocking voice. "Are you telling me that a machine of absolute perfection can feel pain?"

"Databank error. There is no data on the ability used." 19 droned.

"Make that three of your weaknesses." Piccolo corrected himself.

"What do you mean?" 19 asked, a note of mechanical annoyance.

"First. You rely entirely on probability and what your databank tells you." Piccolo explained. "Second. You claim to be perfect, but you were programmed by someone who obviously knows nothing about fighting. Your technique is riddled with openings. The only reason you've managed to get a single hit on me was because I wanted to understand your technique, to see just what we're up against. And third, it may be true that you can absorb energy through your hands, but without that single ability, you can't stand a chance in battle. You probably even absorbed energy from some of the civilians to put up a good show." Piccolo concentrated a copious amount of energy into his fist, which glowed silvery green, and then charged full force at 19, who also charged at Piccolo. Piccolo's energy filled fist didn't hit 19 in the head or chest, but swiped across, severing both of its hands. More oil burst from the stumps where its hands once were.

"Data indicates probability of survival: 0%." 19 said weakly. In a single blast, Piccolo obliterated 19, its pieces shattering everywhere, its head clattering to the ground. Piccolo turned around to see that the giant man called 24 was gone, along with the two children.

"I don't know if it's good or bad that he got away." Piccolo said to himself.

"Hey! Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan called as he landed near Piccolo.

"Are you okay, Gohan?" Piccolo asked, seeing the damages done to his clothing.

"I'm fine." Gohan nodded. "But I ran into the androids and that time traveler guy got banged up pretty bad."

"The androids?" Piccolo repeated. "But I fought and destroyed one of them just now."

"Which one? The boy with the sword or the pretty girl with heterochromia?" Gohan asked. _(For those of you who don't know, heterochromia is a rare case when the eyes are differently colored.) _

"Neither." Said Piccolo blankly. "It was a fat one with pale skin, who called itself 19, and a giant who goes by 24."

"19? 24? But the ones I met were 20 and 21." said Gohan, now just as confused as Piccolo.

"That's another inaccuracy that our mysterious friend has made." Piccolo grumbled.

* * *

"Alright. Now what does a saiyan have to do to find a damn android who's ass he can kick?" Vegeta said irritably to himself. He had been searching the ragged city for the androids for hours, just itching to demonstrate his power. He found his fight as a mangled car was thrown at him. It didn't make him budge whatsoever. He turned to see who threw it and saw a rather familiar looking man. He had black hair firmly standing on end, just like Vegeta's, and a beard. He wore red armor with the saiyan imperial crest, a gold ring around his right arm, and a long, flowing dark blue cape lined with red and the Red Ribbon army double R emblem on the back. He was almost exactly as Vegeta remembered him.

"Son?" King Vegeta said blankly, staring in surprise at his son, who grinned broadly, then he started to chuckle malevolently.

"Well, well. I'm surprised. My father? An android?" Vegeta scoffed. His chuckle turned into a violently loud guffaw. "This is just too perfect! The king of all saiyans reborn! And here he stands before me. I could ask for nothing more."

"What happened to your tail?" King Vegeta asked with a scowl.

"It was severed in a manner most humiliating." Vegeta growled, truly embarrassed at the removal of his tail by a fat kid with a sword, whose name he didn't even know. "I've been truly shamed these past few years." Vegeta stated sharply. "I've been insulted and demeaned by Freeza, a coward who deserves no place for power, outclassed by a low level warrior and his half-breed son, lost my tail at the hands of a worthless fatass, torn to bits by piece after piece of garbage that dare call themselves warriors. But it all ends here. I, the prince of saiyans, will kill you here and now and claim all that is rightfully mine!"

"You dare defy your father!" King Vegeta barked.

"You're reign has ended years ago." Vegeta growled. "Mine has just begun!" King Vegeta snorted arrogantly at this statement nailed Vegeta in the chest with a thin violet beam. He laughed.

"You are no king. You have always been, and now always will be, nothing more than a prince. Second best. Reigning alongside another. I am android 23, the true king. I am now immortal and more powerful than ever before." He noticed Vegeta, staggering, trying to stand back up right, shaking. "Pathetic." 23 jeered. "After all that talk of being the new saiyan king and you're immobile after only one hit. Huh?" 23 saw that Vegeta wasn't shuddering or crying, but laughing.

"So that was the mighty King Vegeta the 1st's Execution Beam?" Vegeta smirked as he stood up. "It's a bit more powerful than I thought, but was that really the power you ruled the saiyan race with for all those years? Laughable!" He roared. He then powered up, his hair turning bright gold, his eyes light green. "Now let me show you the power... Of a true king!" Vegeta vanished, and then reappeared in a golden flash, hitting 23 everywhere he could reach, punching holes in his armor, even tearing off his cape, ripping the double R emblem off, and draping it around himself.

"Take this! My final attack!" Vegeta roared. He raised his right arm high into the air. Bright gold energy like lightening sizzled in his hand. He crushed the lightening in his fist, pounded it against his heart, and he seemingly exploded. When the dust cleared, where Vegeta once stood, there was instead a gigantic man made of swirling golden ki energy, like lightning, with a red cape like fire. The gargantuan looked like a faceless Vegeta, his hair like dark fire. **"**_**This! This is the true power of a saiyan king!" **_He boomed loudly.

Every one of the Z fighters turned and saw the massive lightening being that was once Vegeta.

"What is that thing!" Krillin asked, thunderstruck.

"It almost looks like Vegeta." said Gohan, noticing the shape of the body.

"But how?" said Piccolo. "That power is unreal."

"I must say, I'm impressed." Android 23 said, looking up at the sparking giant. "I've never known anyone, saiyan or otherwise to possess power so immense." A loud, mighty laugh rang throughout the ruins of the city.

_**"You have yet to truly witness my power, Vegeta the 1**__**st**__**!"**_ Vegeta boomed, stomping a tremendous foot to the ground, creating a massive earthquake, which unbalanced 23, but he leapt into the air before he fell into submission. But Vegeta was ahead of him. He clapped 23 between his hands, which rang on a supersonic level, ruining the city even further and painfully hurting the ears of every one left in the area, especially 23's, who had blood flowing out if his. Vegeta swatted 23 into the ground, making a 20 meter wide crater and rendering him unconscious. _**"True King's Fist!" **_And Vegeta slamming his fist into the crater, causing another earthquake and making the hole 23 lay in far deeper. _**"I told you before! I am the only one fit to be the king of all saiyans!" **_Vegeta pulled his enormous golden fist from the ground but to his surprise, 23 wasn't there. The impact was powerful, sure, but there would have to have been something left of 23, a corpse at the very least, but there was nothing, not even a drip of blood or oil, or a scrap of his clothing.

"_That cowardly bastard! He got away!" _He thought. The lightning-like giant dissipated, leaving only Vegeta were the face would have been. He looked around, searching for the cowardly king. "Where is he!" he grumbled angrily. He knew for a while now how to sense energy without the use of a scouter, and this skill was yet to be fine-tuned like Krillin, Piccolo, or Gohan, but he couldn't even feel 23's energy, let alone see him at his current high altitude. He then saw something white shining a long ways away. He squinted and tried to get a closer look, and he saw a teenage girl with snow-white hair hauling 23 over her shoulder. He was pretty badly beat up, he was covered in blood and bruises and his armor torn up in most places. In the girl's other hand, she was carrying something white the size of a melon under her arm.

"No, you don't!" Vegeta roared, rocketing to the ground, forming a hole where he crashed as he landed in front of the girl, whose eyes where miss-matched, one deep blue, the other emerald green. "Where do you think you're going?" he snarled at her. The girl turned and ran from Vegeta, but he was faster. He shot right in front of her and punched her hard in the face, causing her to drop 19's head. A blade was slid out of its sheath and placed at Vegeta's throat.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to hit a girl?" said a boy with spiky hair and a long coat.

"21. Take 23 and get out of here." said 20.

"Not a chance." 21 stated boldly. "If someone threaten us androids, then I must be there to protect them." He swiped at Vegeta, who ducked effortlessly and threw a small ki shot at him, then elbowed him in the face. "Go, 20! Get them out of here!" 21 ordered. Vegeta approached 20 as though ready to strangle her.

"You two are of no interest to me." He said coldly. "The only one I care about killing is in the bearded bastard you call 23. Leave him and maybe I'll spare your pathetic lives."

"That won't happen." Said a voice from behind Vegeta. He turned to see two men, one in a ragged Chinese garb and the other at least ten feet tall with a remorseful look on his face.

"Well, we have ourselves quite the freak show now, don't we?" Vegeta smirked. The giant 24 looked horrorstruck at 20, who was still carrying 23 and 19's head.

"24, get them out of here." 20 called, tossing 19's head over to him. Vegeta shot a beam at the airborne head, but 21 cut it with his sword and made another slash at Vegeta, which made a small cut across his cheek. Vegeta wiped the blood from the narrow cut, and then glared up at the boy who made it. 21 struck downward at him, but Vegeta caught the blade between two fingers and snapped the blade in two. All of the androids stared in shock at this.

"Im…impossible! No one, nothing, has ever once even scratched 21's blade before." 20 breathed.

"He's nothing more than a nuisance." 22 scoffed, disconnecting his left hand and firing the cannon concealed in the forearm. The blast barely hurt Vegeta, who didn't even try to avoid the attack. 20 lay 23's body down carefully, then charged blindly at Vegeta, smashed her fists together when she was inches away from him, and punched him with her right hand, which sparked with green electricity. Then she punched with the left hand, which sparked with similar blue energy. 24 stood in front of the other androids, thrust both his hands out to his sides, and a shield surrounded him and the others, which protected them from the massive explosion that followed.

"RUN!" Piccolo roared as the blast drew closer to them. The flew away from the ruins without wasting any time, only just barely making it out in time.

"Is everyone okay?" Tien asked, panting.

"Where's Yamcha?" said Krillin.

"I'm here!" panted a very worn Yamcha, who was carrying someone in his arms. "Are you okay, Bulma?" He asked her. "Bulma? Are you okay? Answer me!"

"She's alright." said Gohan. "I think she's just unconscious." Yamcha reached down and felt Bulma's stomach and gave a sigh of relief.

"Good. The baby's safe too." He said.

"Baby?" Gohan repeated. "When did Bulma have a baby?"

"It was only a few months ago." Said Yamcha, sounding resentful. "But it's not mine. Some son of a bitch…!" He broke into sobs.

"Look at that. There's nothing left of it now." Said Piccolo, indicating where the city used to be. He was quite right. Where there used to be a thriving city, now there was nothing. No life, nothing to even break the smooth, flat texture of the burnt, grey earth. "We need to get somewhere safe." he stated. "When he regains consciousness," he indicated the scarred, one-armed man Gohan was carrying. "I have a few questions I have to ask him." He said these words with anger and distrust. "Come on. We don't have much time." And with that, they left the ghost flat, in search of safe ground.

"That's impossible! Nothing could possibly endure all of that!" 20 breathed. "It's impossible for anything to survive that!" Sure enough, Vegeta stood unfazed by any of the android attacks.

"Just what the hell are you!" 21 yelled. Vegeta laughed.

"You should already know." He stated. "I am Vegeta, pure-blooded Super Saiyan, an heir to royalty, destined to rule the universe. My ruthless fighting skills are feared by all. I'm taking all comers, and right now, there's nothing I can't do."

**To be continued...**


	5. What's in a name?

Gohan sat by the side of the mysterious stranger, waiting for him to wake up. He had been unconscious for hours, and he, along with the other Z fighters, really needed answers from him. Everything that had occurred that day had gone anything but according to his warning. There were six androids instead of two, they attacked two years after Goku's return instead of three, and Goku's illness occurred hours ago instead of one year after the stranger's warning. Gohan didn't know what to think now. And although the fighting had ended six hours ago, nobody had seen or heard from Vegeta. Was he killed by one of the androids? Or was he still in that wasteland where a city used to be, still fighting? And who was this strange scarred man whom Gohan sat next to? Why would he not even share his own name?

"Gohan? How is he?" Piccolo asked.

"Still unconscious, Mr. Piccolo." Gohan sighed. Piccolo grunted. "Um, Mr. Piccolo? Do you really think it's safe here?" Gohan asked.

"What do you mean, Gohan?" Piccolo asked.

"Well, if they're after dad, then is this our home the safest place for us to hole up?" said Gohan. "Shouldn't we move somewhere else?"

"I understand your point Gohan, but right now, we need to let our friends recover." said Piccolo. "Goku still isn't in any fit state to be up and moving, Bulma and her child are in danger, and our mysterious friend here," he indicated the stranger. "still needs to give us some answers. Answers we're not going anywhere without."

* * *

"Just get out of my way." Vegeta barked at the six androids that stood before him. "The only one of you I even remotely care about is the one you call 23. I'm not going anywhere until I kill him myself."

"If you want to kill 23, you'll have to go through all of us, too!" 21 retorted, his broken blade in hand.

"That can be arranged." Vegeta smirked. Several things suddenly happened all at once. 21 was thrown off his feet, the jagged remains of his blade shattered into many razor sharp shards, 20 was launched high into the air so fast, she found herself hundreds of feet above the fight scene without the slightest clue of how she ended up there, 22's mechanical arms were smashed and his metal-plated chassis was dented very deeply, 19's head rolled through the air and bounced aside, and 24, who put a protective barrier around himself and the ragged 23, simply stared in confusion at the scene, his eyes unable to catch up with the action.

"How did he do all of that so fast?" 21 thought. He looked down with distain at the sword in his hand, only to find that it was now nothing more than a useless hilt. "Impossible! Nobody has ever even scratched my blade, but he just shattered it! Destroyed everything but the hilt!"

Vegeta raised a hand, and with a single bullet of ki, he pierced through 24's barrier, kicked him aside, and snatched his cybernetic father by the front of his neck. He looked into the helpless, pathetic eyes of 23, totally crippled, not even able to raise a hand to him, let alone fight. Vegeta growled irritably. He threw King Vegeta aside, who was caught by 24.

"Get out." Vegeta snarled.

"…What?" 20 said blankly.

"I said get out of here!" Vegeta growled. "And take THAT with you!" he pointed to the pathetic old king being held by 24. "Fix him. Get him back in shape. Taking the crown means nothing if I'm taking it from that cowardly garbage." 20 blinked. She never expected Vegeta to show mercy like this after the powerful display she just witnessed. "Twelve hours." Said Vegeta, but much to 20's shock, he wasn't standing a hundred feet away as he was a second ago, but right behind her, his arms crossed. She gasped as she noticed that her hands were also empty. She had retrieved 19's head, but now Vegeta held it under his arm, and she had a red cloth tied around her left arm, which she soon realized was a piece of the cape that Vegeta stole from 23. She stared open-mouthed at it.

"He could have killed me if he wanted to." She breathed.

"And I will if you aren't back here in this exact spot in the next twelve hours." Vegeta barked, making her jump. "Starting with melon head here." 20 knew without turning around knew that he meant 19. 21 and 22 looked as though they still wanted to fight, but then Vegeta shouted, "Well! What are you waiting for! Get out of my sight! Or I really will kill all of you!" 20 sprung to her feet and ran to join the other androids, who flew off. Vegeta sat and waited for them, 19's head safely under his arm. He started to get a sense of déjà vu as he waited, reminded of the day when he and Nappa waited three hours for Goku to arrive. Even though Goku was late, he still showed up, however, he was fairly sure that the androids just used the twelve hours they were given to run away. After about three hours, he got tired of asking 19 how much time was left, and most of all, tired of waiting. He decided to play a little game involving the use of 19's head as a soccer ball, but that too grew dull after less than a half an hour.

Desperate to kill some time (and his father in another seven and a half hours), he looked around the desolate area. He floated high over the blackened earth for a moment and scanned the surrounding area. He grinned and said to himself,

"Perfect." With his ki, he burned a massive indent into the ground and smoothed out the edges of the wall and floor, forming a fighting arena. Then he shaped the area around the arena, forming five stone execution posts, a row for spectators, and a throne for Vegeta himself. He sat down in the black stone seat and looked down admiring at his handy work. "Hm. A little plain, but I can work out those details later." He smiled, admiring his handy work.

* * *

"He's too powerful. If he did this to 23, there's no chance we can stand up to him." 21 was saying. "I say we just run."

"No. 23's hurt." Said 20 firmly. "Besides, if he's as powerful as that, then running would only make everything harder on us. He said he was only interested in 23. If we run, he'll just kill all of us and we'll be wasting the opportunity that he gave us.

"But there's no way we can get 23 back into fighting shape." 21 protested. 20 shook her head.

"We have to at least try."

"But how can we be sure that he won't just kill us before we have the chance to get 23 back to the lab?" 21 retorted.

"He won't." said 22 simply. "He's a cruel one, sure, but he does have some honor in him. He wishes to fight 23 when he himself can fight, and kill him when he himself can kill. Besides, we're still in touch with 19, remember? If Vegeta steps out of line, we can have 19 self-destruct and teach him a little something."

"I'm not sure that'll work." 20 cringed. "Remember? He resisted by Bio Destruction Burst without even trying. If that won't work, I don't know what will. We can only hope that 23 can put up a fight when we get him back on his feet."

They had reached the remains of Dr. Gero's laboratory and 24 got to work fixing 23 immediately. "So, Dr. 24, what's your diagnosis?" 21 asked jokingly. 24 looked up at him with an expression of mixed confusion and annoyance then got right back to work on 23.

"Hey! It was only a joke." 21 shrugged indignantly.

"How long do you think it'll take to get him back in working order?" 20 asked in a more serious tone. 24 scratched his chin thoughtfully, then said.

"Ten hours, I think." He continued repairing 23.

"Can you can get him back in fighting shape by then?" 24 nodded. 20 smiled and gave 24 an appreciate pat on the shoulder. "Thanks, Juyo." She said. 24 gave her a perplexed expression. "What? Oh. Juyo. It's a little nickname I came up with for you." 20 explained. 24 raised an eyebrow, thinking.

"Ju… yo…?" He repeated. Then he smiled and patted 20 carefully on the shoulder as though in thanks.

"So you like that name?" 20 asked. 24 nodded, smiling. "Good to here. Keep it up, Juyo." She patted Juyo's shoulder again and walked out of the room to give him time to concentrate on 23.

"You gave him a nickname? Really?" said 21 dully as they explored the ruins of Gero's lab.

"What's wrong with that?" 20 shrugged. "Well, it seems a little dumb to nickname a machine, isn't it?" said 21.

"He's not a machine. He's a part-human, like us." 20 retorted defensively. "Besides, he likes that name. You want one?"

"I'll pass." 21 sighed.

"Where are you going, ikki?" 20 asked.

"Don't call me that. And I'm going to see if I can find a new sword." 21 replied as he walked down a flight of stairs into a room full of equipment.

"Why is it that Juyo's the only one I can really talk to around here?" 20 sighed.

She looked around the laboratory, searching for some answers that could lead her to the truth about her identity. She had lost so many memories from her past, when she was a full human, that she couldn't even remember her own name. She wanted to give herself a new one, even if it was only a nickname, but none of the androids would even consider calling her anything other than Android 20. She found a room with many computers that seemed very promising, but she was soon disappointed, as they only contained now worthless data on unfinished doomsday weapons, older androids, probably destroyed years ago, and historical data on The Red Ribbon Army. But when she was ready to leave the room, she saw a cracked computer screen that was somehow still functioning. The words 'Android 20' flickered feebly across it.

"No way. Could it be...?" 20 exclaimed, reading the information shown on the screen:

_Perfect Jinzo Ningen Project: Subject #20. _

_Gender: Female_

"Oh, thank god!" 20 sighed of relief. For a time, she thought she was originally a male turned female by Gero.

_Age before experimentation: 16_

"Well, that's one important mystery solved."

"_Eye color: -_

"Damn it. I was hoping it could tell me which eye was the fake." 20 always knew that Gero had removed one of her eyes, replacing it with a cyberneticly enhanced fake of a different color, but she could never figure out for the life of her which was the real one and which was the fake, because the false eye was connected to the real one, allowing her to use her cybernetic eye's abilities through both eyes.

_Hair Color: White_

"My hair's naturally white? Wait, what's that?" She said, her heart racing as she read the next line on the screen:

_Subject's name: To- _

But to her disappointment, the rest of her name was blocked out by a large crack in the screen, as was her eye color.

"So, my name starts with 'To', huh?" She said. She thought for a moment what girl names could start with 'To'. _"Tokine? Toshiko? Tonya?" _No matter what came to mind, no name seemed to fit her. "I guess I'm just nothing more than Android 20." She sighed. Then a thought flashed through her mind.

_To. Twenty. Toenti? Toni?_

"Toni!" She shouted gleefully. "That's my name from now on! Toni!"

"What's all the noise about?" 21 grumbled. He was carrying a katana over his shoulder.

"I finally have a name!" said Toni happily. "It's Toni!"

"Isn't that a boy's name?" said 21, not caring to know the answer.

"No, not Tony with a 'y', Toni with an 'i'. It's short for 'Tonya.'" said Toni indignantly.

"Whatever. What good is a name anyway?" 21 sighed. "I don't remember my original name at all, but that doesn't change anything about who or what I am."

"But doesn't it feel better to know that you have a name of your own and not just a number that some scientist gave you?" Toni retorted.

"Like I said, it doesn't make a difference to me. If I'm 21, I'm 21. It doesn't matter if my name is a real one or a number, I wouldn't care if I was never even given a name." said 21.

"But your name is part of who you are." Toni persuaded. "That's why I refuse to be called Android 20. It may not be the name I was born with, but I'd much rather be known as Toni, because I'm not just some machine given a number." She tore off the right sleeve of her shirt, which bore the Double R insignia of the Red Ribbon Army, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. 21 stared at her with amazement.

"Alright then. If that's what you want," He said. "The others are having a meeting to discuss our upcoming fight. Let's go." He walked up the stairs and paused as he turned around and said, "What are you waiting for? Come on… Toni." Toni smiled at him. She never would have expected him to actually call her by the name she gave herself. She joined him up the stairs.

* * *

"Hey, guys! He's coming 'round!" Gohan shouted. The mysterious stranger had just awoken and everyone gathered around him, ready to get some answers from him.

"Huh? Where am I? What happened" He asked faintly.

"We would like to ask you the same thing. What _did _happen?" Piccolo asked sharply.

"Wh-what do you…" The stranger asked.

"You know what we mean!" Piccolo cut across him. "You lied to us about the time and the place of the Androids' attack, and about the androids themselves!"

"I didn't know!" The stranger insisted. "Those two androids we faced, 20 and 21, I didn't know they would be the attackers. In my timeline, it was 17 and 18."

"Well it wasn't just 20 and 21." Yamcha cut in. "There was a 22 as well."

"Along with a 19 and 24." Piccolo added. "And I'm fairly sure that Vegeta was fighting a 23, too." said Krillin. The stranger's eyes went wide.

"Six of them!" he shouted, his face full of shock. "But how! Bulma told me that there'd be changes to the timeline because if my interference, but I had no idea that…" he broke off, knowing that he just made a very big mistake as Bulma came into the room.

"What did I tell you?" She asked. The stranger knew he was in a tough spot now. "I don't even know your name. How and why would I be telling you anything about the space time continuum?"

"And that's another thing." Piccolo rounded back onto him. "Give us one good reason why we should trust you! Give us one reason why we shouldn't just kill you where you lay!"

"Mr. Piccolo! There's no reason for…!" Gohan insisted.

"Well?" Piccolo continued. "If we're going to trust you any further, it's time you tell us what it is that you have to hide! No more secrets!"

"I promised I wouldn't away my identity until it was absolutely necessary." Said the stranger. "But after seeing what happened today, after all the damage done to the timeline, I guess there's no choice then. Fine. I'll tell you everything. But first, where's Vegeta?" he looked around the room. Everyone was there except for Goku, who was still in bed, and Vegeta.

"We don't know." Gohan shrugged. "He was fighting 23 when we last saw him. He must still be fighting. But that's no important now. Vegeta can handle himself. Stop delaying. Who are you?" The stranger seemed to take this question under serious consideration, as though trying to find a way to properly answer. Then finally…

"I'm you." He answered Gohan simply. Gohan blinked.

"What do you mean?" He asked blankly. "I'm me."

"I am from eleven years in the future." The stranger elaborated. "A future that was made into a living hell by androids 17 and 18. I have come to this time to put an end to that which threatens the future. But unfortunately, it seems as though I've made your futures even worse than mine. My name is…" He broke off, and then took a deep breath. "I am Son Gohan, eleven years from now." The room went totally silent, bewildered, incredulous, and confused looks on the faces of everyone in the room except for Piccolo's. Gohan seemed especially shocked.

"So… you're…. me?" He muttered blankly, as though thinking he heard wrong. The stranger nodded. The room was still very silent.

"Um, where's dad?" He asked finally.

"In bed. He's still recovering from his sickness." Gohan answered. It felt weird for Gohan to hear someone other than himself call his father 'dad'.

"Bulma, how's Trunks?" The older Gohan asked.

"Trunks? Who's that?" Bulma asked.

"Your child." The older Gohan told her.

"Trunks? Did I really name him that?" said Bulma, feeling her tummy.

"Is he okay?" The older Gohan asked.

"Fine, I think." Bulma answered. "Why?"

"It's just that well uh… in my timeline, your son… died." said the older Gohan. Bulma looked at him fearfully.

"Died?" She repeated. "Because of the androids?" the older Gohan nodded.

"He was a brave kid. He fought the androids with me, but he died a hero."

"That's awful." said Bulma. "No kid should ever have to fight something like that. Is that how you lost your arm?"

"Yes." Said the older Gohan, looking down at the empty sleeve where his left arm should be. "This serves as a reminder of my mistakes."

"Mistakes?" Bulma repeated.

"I should have been able to protect him." Said the older Gohan. But I couldn't. I was forced to stay back as he was killed ruthlessly by 17 and 18. I was the one who should have been killed back then, not Trunks. He should have had the last senzu bean in existence, not…"

_Wham!_

Bulma had just hit the older Gohan across the face, furious tears in her eyes.

"It wasn't your fault! You can't blame yourself for everything that happens!" She shouted at him "I don't know about 17 and 18, but if they're as strong as you say, then there's no helping what happened then! You can't just sit around moping with only one arm while the androids run loose! All that'll do is get you killed! And I'm sure that my son never would have wanted you to break down like that! Don't let his sacrifice be in vain!" The older Gohan gave her a look of shock at first, then he grinned broadly as he covered the bruise Bulma left on his face.

"You know, the future Bulma used to pound sense into me just like that." He said. " Thanks, Bulma. I'm glad to see that's something that'll never change."

"No problem, kiddo." Bulma grinned. "If you every lose it, I'll always be here to punch some sense into you." Gohan smiled broadly.

"I'd like that." He said.

* * *

"He's regained consciousness." Juyo told the others.

"Good. So now we can get down to business." Said 22 as 23 sat up.

"You think you're up for another fight, 23?" 21 asked.

"My son is definitely stronger than I anticipated him to be." 23 said simply. "It will take more than just our might to defeat him." He looked around the room at the other androids "Where is #20?" he asked.

"Well, 'Toni's' probably lagging behind trying to nickname all the broken junk in this place." 21 scoffed.

"Go find her." 23 ordered. 21 sighed as he searched the lab for 20. "Why am I always responsible for her?" he asked himself irritably. "There you are." He said. Toni was examining something against the wall. "What are you doing?" He asked in annoyance.

"Look at this." She said. She indicated two large white capsules against the wall. One was labeled '17', the other '18'. They each had a small porthole where a person's face could be seen inside each. The one marked 17 had a boy with shoulder-length black hair, the other, 18, had a girl with short blonde hair. Both looked as though they were fast asleep.

"So what? They're just junk the doctor threw out." 21 scoffed.

"If they're junk, why are they here?" said Toni. "This is Gero's work area." Now that 21 got a proper look at the room, he saw that she was quite right. The room had several human reconstruction tables, a bunch of broken, yet very important-looking super computers, and even two other capsules like the ones mark 17 and 18 in front of him and Toni. "They can't just be garbage if he chose to keep them rather than destroying them." said Toni. "I say we let these two out."

"Good idea." said 21. He pressed a small code on the sides of the capsules and they both hissed, and then opened up. They opened their eyes as though waking from a deep sleep then looked around the room.

"Geez, the good doctor has become quite the slob since he deactivated us." The boy in the capsule marked 17 smirked. The blonde girl said nothing, just gave the area a scathing look.

"And who might you two be?" She asked, indicating 20 and 21.

"I am android 21." 21 said proudly. "And this is android 20."

"You can call me Toni." 20 added.

"Isn't that a boy's name?" 17 snorted.

"It's spelled with an 'i', not a 'y'!" said Toni heatedly.

"It's short for 'Tonya.'" interjected 18.

"Well, anyway, now that we've gotten introduced to one another, let's go plot our fight against Vegeta." 21 cut in with a serious tone.

"Vegeta?" 17 repeated. "We've been programmed to kill Son Goku, nobody else."

"We'll have to fight our way through Vegeta if we want to have any hope of getting to Son." 21 replied. "And trust me; he's a lot more powerful than our databanks claim him to be. A lot more powerful."

"Is he really?" 18 smirked. "17, what do you say?"

"I say we go fight him. Son Goku is probably too weak to be any fun to fight anyway." said 17. They blasted a hole in the wall and flew off into the distance.

"No! Wait!" Toni yelled, but it was too late. They were out of sight before she even had the chance to open her mouth. "What do we do now?" She asked 21.

"Nothing." 21 shrugged lazily. "They'll either be obliterated by Vegeta, or by some freaky chance they'll kill him. Not our problem either way." Toni glared at him, and then flew out the opening in the wall. 21 just sighed. "Why do I even bother?" He asked himself.

"Where are they?" Toni asked herself as she floated high in the air, looking for the two escaped androids. "If they show their faces around Vegeta, he'll destroy them for sure." She focused, trying to see their energy through her cybernetic eye. Much to her confusion, the energies of both 17 and 18 were totally untraceable. "No other choice, then." She sighed. She then looked around her, searching for the energies of Son Goku and his friends. "If I can't stop those two myself, I'll just have to find someone who can." She said to herself as she flew in the opposite direction of where Vegeta waited.

* * *

"Maybe I should work out the details now." Vegeta grumbled in a bored voice. He was ready to do just this when he heard something rumbling outside his self-made arena. He floated out of the arena pit to see hundreds of soldiers, jet fighters, and tanks gathered around the perimeter. "That's him!" One of the more decorated soldiers yelled, pointing up at Vegeta.

"He's the one who destroyed the city!" Vegeta flew away from the crowd of angry military men. "Stop him! He's getting away!" One of them shouted.

"Running away?" Vegeta snorted under his breath, landing on a rock a good ways out of the flatten city. "I just don't want my arena to be damaged." Hundreds upon thousands of bullets and rockets were fired at Vegeta, who barely even felt the projectiles. "Useless, all of them." He scoffed. He was planning to wait for the angry military to run out of ammunition and ignore them entirely, but while the bullets and missiles didn't harm him in the slightest, they did start to annoy him quite a bit.

"Okay, I've had about enough." He said irritably. And he pointed two fingers straight at a cluster of soldiers, who immediately went up in smoke. Every soldier in the area paused and stared blankly at the damaged Vegeta caused. He smirked and shot a small ki blast, which put another large dent in the military's numbers. He continued killing troop after troop, literally raining fire upon them, when two very large blasts came out o nowhere, decimating the remainder of the troops. Vegeta turned around to see who had made these shots.

"So do you think it makes you powerful to kill so many weakling humans with such low power levels?"

"What the hell are you two?" Vegeta asked.

"I'm android 17." Said a boy with sleek black hair and an orange bandana around his neck.

"And I'm android 18." Said a blonde haired girl next to him.

"More androids?" Vegeta sighed. "It doesn't matter how many of you rust buckets there are. If one of you is too weak to handle my might, so are the rest of you."

"Maybe so," said 18, touching down in Vegeta's arena.

"But we aren't like those scrap piles you fought before." said 17.

"Fine then. Bring it on." Vegeta scoffed, setting down in the arena, opposite 17 and 18, a confident smirk on his face, his arms crossed arrogantly.

* * *

"Vegeta!" Everyone jumped as the Older Gohan jerked up in his bed. He was still badly injured from his fight with 20, so this deeply pained him. "Gohan, could you get me my pouch?" he said.

"You mean this?" said the younger Gohan, handing him a small bag, which was completely empty except for one tiny lump of an item.

"Yes. Thank you." Said the older Gohan. He turned the small bag over, gave it a small tip, and a familiar-looking pale green bean fell out of it and into his hand.

"Is that a senzu bean?" said Piccolo.

"Not just any senzu bean. The very last senzu bean in existence." Said the older Gohan. "You see, in my timeline, there was nowhere, absolutely nowhere safe from the androids, not even Korin's Tower. After the tower had been destroyed, there was only a very small handful of senzus left, and no way to grow more, so I was left having to safe them for only the occasions when I or someone I know has a true need for them. The one I hold in my hand is a very precious artifact to me. I swore to myself that no matter what happened, no matter how much endangered my life was, I would save this one final bean for Trunks when he needed it. He died just hours after I made that promise, and until now, I've held on to it, because to use it myself would just be an insult to Trunks' memory. But now…." He stared hollowly at the bean in his hand, questioning his decision. Then…

"But now is no time to be wallowing in my own guilt. Right now, when the androids on the loose, I have no other choice. If I succeed, then I can rest easy knowing Trunks' death wasn't in vain, if I fail, then I can pay for my mistakes in hell! Either way, I can't just sit here in bed while the androids are still out there!" And with that, he popped the senzu into his mouth and swallowed it. His wounds healed instantly, and to everyone's surprise, his left arm grew back, first bone, then muscle, then flesh. He clenched his newly regrown hand into a fist, then flexed his new joints and cracked his knuckles.

"Vegeta's energy has been very low and inactive for a while now, but now it's gotten very high. He must be fighting at least one of the androids. I'm going there to assist the fight."

"We'll go too." said Yamcha.

"Yeah!" Krillin cheered.

"No." said the Older Gohan flatly. "It could just be a diversion to lead us away from dad. You guys stay here and look after him. I'm going by myself." He ignored the objections from the rest and left the house, taking off after Vegeta.

"He seems to be alright." The older Gohan said to himself.

"Of course. He's second only to dad, after all." He froze in mid air and whipped around. Tailing him was the Younger Gohan, wearing his orange outfit Piccolo gave him when he was preparing to fight the saiyans and carrying a sword on his back.

"I thought I said that I'm going alone." The older Gohan said firmly.

"And I am." Said the Younger Gohan, grinning childishly.

"We're the same person, remember? So if I go with you, technically you are still going alone." The two Gohans shared a laugh, which was cut short by a shimmer of white in the distance, which put them both on guard. Sure enough, it was Android 20.

"Don't attack! I'm not here to fight!" She said quickly, seeing the Gohans' battle-ready stances. "Your friend, Vegeta. He's gone mad. He's the one who burned that city to the ground, not us."

"Liar." Said the Older Gohan.

"It's true. He wants to kill android 23 because he was created using the DNA of his father. He wants to kill him so that he can truly prove that he's surpassed him." The Older Gohan raised his hand to 20's face, ready to strike. "Why should I believe you?" He demanded.

"Because… Because I… love you." 20 said, blushing. "And because I need your help. Two other androids have broken loose and they're picking a fight with Vegeta as we speak. I'm just so confused now. I don't know who's good or bad now."

"Has Vegeta really gotten so dark?" asked the Younger Gohan. 20 nodded.

"He's eliminated practically the entire world's military. I don't think any friend of your would do that." She said.

"Fine. I'll trust you for now." said the Older Gohan. He cast a very dark look at 20. "But mark my words. If I even get the slightest suspicion that you're lying to us, or that you're luring us into some sort of trap, I will not hesitate or show any mercy towards you!"

"Alright." said 20 simply.

As they flew to the site of Vegeta's arena, 20 asked, "Hey, if it's not too much trouble, can I ask what your names are?"

"I'm Son Gohan." Both the older and younger Gohans said together. 20 blinked.

"You're both the sons of Son Goku?" She said. "And you're both named Gohan?"

"I'm actually him." Said the Older Gohan, pointing to his younger counterpart. "From the future."

"You know, most people would call you crazy for saying that." 20 sighed. "But after all that's happened recently, I really wouldn't doubt that at all. If you're from the future, then I'll call you," She pointed to the older Gohan. "Mirai."

"Mirai?" The older Gohan repeated.

"I like it. It's kind of catchy." The younger Gohan chuckled. "What about you?" He asked 20. "Do you have a name?"

"Call me Toni."

_**To be continued….**_

**As you can plainly see, names are pretty important to 20, or Toni, who's name is not only short for 'Tonya', but is also a play on the word 'twenty'. Ikki, the nickname 21 rejected, is a play on the Japanese word 'ichi', or 'one". Juyo, 24's nickname, is a play on 'Ni Ju Yon', or 'twenty four'. Mirai, which is what Future Gohan will be called from now on to differentiate him from his younger counterpart, is Japanese for 'Future'. Just thought you may be interested in this little side note.**

**See you next chapter, everyone!**


	6. Side Story: The Tale of King Black Tail

**I've been getting these questions pretty often since Chapter 4: Where is Dr. Gero in all of this and how could he have gotten King Vegeta's DNA, when he died hundreds of light years away over twenty years prior to the current timeframe? Well, if you'll pardon another crappy filler chapter, both of those questions will be answered.**

**[What-if Saga: The Android Saga Side Story: The Tale of King Black Tail's Tail] **

"I have returned, Lord Freeza." King Vegeta stated as he stood knelt before the mighty alien overlord. "I have conquered Planet Duronasus in only one week's time." Most people would normally be impressed or intimidated by a single man conquering an entire planet, but Freeza just continued to sit on his throne, giving the king of all saiyans his usual bored look.

"Has it really been that long?" He said dully. Zarbon and Dodoria, his left and right hand men, laughed silently. King Vegeta seemed taken aback.

"But Planet Duronasus has been taken!" he insisted. "It's military is probably second only to our own, and…"

"I've heard enough." Freeza cut him off. "You have done as I ordered. Now be off with you." King Vegeta was ready to further object against the way he was being treated, a manner he highly resented, but he thought better of it, bowing, muttering,

"Yes, Lord Freeza." And leaving the throne room in silence, dropping his scouter and not even bothering to pick it up.

"What more could you expect?" Sneered Zarbon once King Vegeta left the room. "From a monkey." Freeza and Dodoria laughed.

"He didn't even bother to pick up the scouter he dropped." Dodoria chuckled, taking and replacing it with his own.

"_I almost think that the saiyans have gotten too powerful."_

"_What do you mean, sir?"_

"_I doubt that either of you, or I for that matter, could have taken Duronasus alone. The saiyans have grown powerful indeed. They are truly a force worth being feared on the full moon, and it's only a matter of time until they're strong enough to overthrow us without need of one."_

"_What are you saying, Lord Freeza?"_

"_Well, for now, we'll be cutting off any further missions. Any saiyans who are still out fighting will be returning to Planet Vegeta within the week, where we will be waiting for them."_

"_Destroy the entire saiyan race? But we never would have become as fearsome as we have without them."_

"_True, Dodoria, but I believe that we've grown past our need for them. Sure we could still use some of the more blindly loyal ones, like the little prince Vegeta and his lap dog, Nappa, but the others we can just do away with."_

"So it's true." King Vegeta had placed a listening device on the scouter he had dropped in Freeza's throne room and he and his royal guard had just listened in on something big. "I had always heard rumors that Freeza was plotting to destroy us, but I can't believe that they're true."

"Whether we want to believe it or not, it is." said King Vegeta.

"What can we do?" said one of the Royal Guard.

"Freeza's stronger than any of the saiyans, even our king cannot stand up to his might." His gaze met King Vegeta's and he added, "Uh, I mean that…!"

"It pains me to say this, but you are correct." said King Vegeta. "Freeza plans to eliminate us, so we'll strike before he has a chance to. We'll hit him when he least suspects it: one day before he commits genocide on our people, where he least expects us to find him: Planet Freeza 00."

"Freeza 00? But I thought that world was just a myth."

"That's what he would want you to think." stated King Vegeta. "If Planet Vegeta is the saiyans' stronghold, then Freeza 00 is Freeza's. That's where he will be until his attack. And that's where we take the fight to him, where we'll show that the saiyans will no longer pledge their loyalty to them. If Freeza is afraid of us, if he's afraid that we've grown too powerful, then we'll hive him something to be afraid of!" All of the saiyans in the throne room cheered loudly. "Under the full moon there's nothing the saiyans cannot do. Freeza knows this all too well. It's time we reinforced that lesson."

"But does Freeza 00 even have any moons?" A saiyan soldier asked.

"No, but I have developed a technique that will work just as well." said King Vegeta confidently.

* * *

**Several days later...**

"Lord Freeza, might I inquire as to why you have called off all missions for my people?" King Vegeta asked over holo-communication.

"My dear King Vegeta, you must understand, my men have a good handle on things. You and your true warrior race needn't worry themselves over the petty missions that we've been left with." Freeza stated in his usual falsely polite tone.

"And you must understand that regardless of how firm of a grip your soldiers have on the galaxy is irrelevant." King Vegeta retorted. "The rights to start, enforce, and call off any saiyan missions is a right that belongs to me, and me alone. You may be our race's superior, but I will not tolerate you or anybody else interfering in our affairs!"

"I assure you that was not at all my intention." Said Freeza politely. "I merely…"

"I've heard enough of your excuses." King Vegeta barked over the galactic emperor. "This is a matter we need to negotiate in person."

"Very well then, King Vegeta. I shall prepare for my journey to Planet Vegeta right away and…"

"No. This is a matter that you started, therefore, we will discuss it on your stronghold. Planet Freeza 00." King Vegeta stated. Freeza seemed slightly taken aback, wishing to object, but he simply retained his formal posture and said simply,

"Very well then, King of all Saiyans." He gave a respectful bow and the transmission vanished.

"Why did we announce our presence on his world to him?" One of the king's royal guards asked. "Why not launch a surprise attack?"

"It wouldn't work. Not outside his castle, at least." King Vegeta answered. "When we finish with negotiations, then we will show Freeza the true might of the saiyan race."

The saiyan ship set down on a landing platform near Freeza's castle and the king, along with his personal escort, marched importantly to Freeza, who was escorted by his usual left and right hand men, Dodoria and Zarbon, along with a few other henchmen.

"So, King Vegeta. You have issues that you wish to discuss with me?" He said plainly.

"I resent the way that the saiyans have been treated by you and your men." King Vegeta stated. "Though we have served you loyally, conquered hundreds of worlds that few of your other men couldn't, we have been treated as third class in your empire."

"While I understand your frustration, King Vegeta, not all of what you have said is entirely true." Said Freeza as he, King Vegeta, and their respective escorts walked down the castle corridors. "Though your devotion to my empire has been commendable and your skills second to very few, your race is not truly a part of my organization, and never has been." A spark of resentment coursed through King Vegeta.

"What was that!" he barked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," said Freeza in his usual faux-courteous voice. "But I believe the saiyans have an empire of their own? And correct me if I'm wrong, but they have lives and affairs of their own? Your people are not truly members of my empire purely for political reasons."

"Politics have little relevance to our people." said King Vegeta gruffly. "And if what you say is true, I see little reason for you to treat me and my people with the disrespect I see far too often."

"Racism is something that the universe may never be free from." Freeza shrugged simply. "If there is discrimination between saiyans and any of the other many races in my empire, it is of little concern to me personally."

"It does concern you because I know that you not only encourage, but enforce this disrespect towards my people!" King Vegeta roared.

"I don't know where you get such a misconception, but I assure you that just because the people of my empire don't treat your race with the respect they deserve, it doesn't make it my responsibility to change their opinions of you. Not everyone sees the true might of your warrior race as I do."

"In that case," King Vegeta said in a low voice with a smirk as they walked into a room with an opened ceiling. He opened his hand, his flat palm facing the opening in the ceiling. A glowing white ball of energy formed in his hand, making Freeza and his escort look curiously at him and the saiyan guard wore the same grin as their king. King Vegeta threw the ball high into the air until it was just out of sight. "I will show everyone, you, your guard, everyone, the power of the saiyan race!" He clenched his hand into a tight fist and the white energy ball burst, glowing blindingly bright.

"What was that!" Freeza demanded. King Vegeta grinned still more sinisterly.

King Vegeta looked up slightly at the blinding light and prompted his men to do the same. Their eyes all turned bright red and all around the circular room the sound of a dozen hearts pounding reverberated. Freeza understood what this meant, and his eyes went wide.

"My royal guard! Follow me! We'll destroy that tyrant once and for all!" The black gorilla ordered. "Anyone else who can understand me, kill anyone who gets in our way and kill those who have lost control!"

"But they're our own…" One of the great apes argued.

"Do not question my orders!" King Vegeta roared. "Any saiyan who lost control of their transformation are disgraces to our mission and our race! Kill them all!" The black gorilla king raced down through the room, a few of Freeza's henchmen jumping out of his way, the royal guard right behind him, ravaging the palace as they went.

"We're safe now, Sir." Said Dodoria, once he, Zarbon, and Freeza had locked themselves securely in the safe house. A sharp rumble around them convinced the alien overlord otherwise.

"Zarbon. Dodoria. Leave." Said Freeza coldly. "I will handle these brutish monkeys myself." Zarbon and Dodoria exchanged frightened looks.

"But Lord Freeza, surely we could handle…" Zarbon tried to reason.

"Return to the flagship." Freeza cut him off in his low, cold voice. "This won't be long." Dodoria and Zarbon exchanged looks again and did as their master commanded. Freeza moved to his throne room and stood in the exact center of the safe room, arms crossed, waiting patiently for his opponent.

"FREEZA! COME OUT, YOU COWARDLY BASTARD!" The great apes roared.

"Tear this entire place apart until the tyrant is found!" King Vegeta growled. He opened his mouth wide and a massive energy beam burst from it, cutting through countless walls and destroying large chunks of the palace. He barreled through the too small hallways, smashing and tearing the once magnificent structure to rubble. After violently ransacking the castle, he tore a great chunk of roof off of one particular room to find the galactic overlord standing patiently for him.

"Ah, so this is how you came to be known among saiyans as King Black Tail." Said Freeza, looking up somewhat admiringly at the hulking black ape towering over him. King Vegeta fired another burst of energy from his mouth, engulfing Freeza, but doing minimal, if that, damage. The saiyan king crossed his arms, his palms facing Freeza, shouted,

"King's Might!" And clapped the crossed hands together, firing a black and red beam straight at Freeza, who was knocked off his feet and smashing into his throne, catching himself in midair just in time to stop from hitting the wall.

"You've actually ruined my armor." Freeza said in his still too polite tone. "I've never known one who has been able to do such a thing." He pointed a finger lazily at King Vegeta and a thin violet beam shot from it, King Vegeta leapt, dodging the beam and charged Freeza, throwing a fist into him, only to tear down the wall behind him. He turned and stomped on him, only to inflict minimal damage.

"Your power is quite impressive, but I'm afraid all that primitive transformation will do for you right now is make you a bigger target." Said Freeza, his faux-politeness fading slightly. "Even now, your power level doesn't even hold a candle to my own."

"It's that arrogance that will lead to your end, Freeza!" King Vegeta roared. "King's Might!" Freeza took the blast head-on, not even trying to avoid it. This was a terrible move, for he was crushed and trampled upon by the saiyan king, whose power seemed to increase more and more as their fight progressed. Hundreds of energy bursts rained down upon Freeza and when the dust from the battle cleared, all of the surviving members of King Vegeta's Royal Guard stood surrounding Freeza.

"Interesting. And here I was under the impression that you actually wanted a fair fight with me, King Vegeta." Freeza grinned, looking around at the gigantic primates surrounding him as though they were little more than massive decorations.

"Your reign ends here and now, Freeza!" King Vegeta growled. "For too long we have served you, and for too long we have been oppressed by you! But here and now, the saiyans will rule the galaxy as the strongest warrior race in the universe!" Dozens of mouth blasts fired straight at the miniscule Freeza, who flew higher into the air, hitting two great apes with a double death beam and avoiding the saiyan attacks with relative ease.

"That's enough!" Freeza shouted, now hundreds of feet above the saiyan gorillas. His faux-polite voice was gone, now prominently angry and hell-bent. He pointed a single finger high into the air, which a small yellow-orange ball formed just above. It grew larger little by little until it was several times larger than he was, and he threw it down onto the planet below.

Everything, the castle, the saiyans, Freeza's soldiers, the planet itself exploded into nothingness. Laughing slightly, Freeza drifted up to the starship floating a short distance away. Once inside, he was met by a certain bearded saiyan, who stood battle ready before him.

"You managed to escape Freeza 00's destruction before I even finished creating that death ball, didn't you?" Freeza smirked.

"You destroyed everything? Your planet, your people, your stronghold, your planet, just to destroy the few saiyans that stood upon it?" King Vegeta growled angrily.

"All of those things can easily be replaced." Said Freeza casually. "And you spoke of my arrogance in the castle? Your arrogance must exceed my own if you think you stand any more of a chance now than you did when you were at your strongest on Freeza 00." Freeza vanished, reappearing right behind King Vegeta and swinging his tail in attack. Vegeta's own tail batted it away and turned, aiming a strike at Freeza's head. Freeza ducked effortlessly and impaled the king's hand on one of his horns. He jerked his head this way and that, amplifying Vegeta's pain and with a final, strong jerk, he ripped his horn straight through his hand, severing his thumb in the process.

King Vegeta fired an energy beam at point blank range, which was met with a second beam from Freeza. The two rulers struggled to stay standing as they forced their point-blank beams to stay strong and push it against the other's blast.

Finally, King Vegeta's beam made it through, sending Freeza cleanly through the wall of the ship and out into space. Vegeta grinned at his victory. He marched confidently into the bridge, taking a seat at the fallen overlord's throne, where he was met by Zarbon and Dodoria, who poised themselves for battle.

"Freeza is dead. Either you server me now, or you die." King Vegeta stated. The two henchmen exchanged looks of shock at this news and were almost ready to bow to their new king when a falsely courteous voice said from behind the throne,

"Interesting. I was not under the impression that I had ever died." King Vegeta stared in utter disbelief, as did Zarbon and Dodoria, as Freeza walked around to the front of the throne and gave King Vegeta a look of triumph. "Did you not know that I can survive in the vacuum of space?" He smirked. He fired one final death beam straight at the head of King Vegeta and he fell to the floor face first.

"Did I see wrong, or did your loyalty waver from me earlier?" He asked Zarbon and Dodoria coolly.

"Our loyalty was always for you, Lord Freeza!" Dodoria stammered.

"We would have chosen death before betrayal to our true king, Lord Freeza!" Zarbon insisted. Freeza ignored their excuses and knelled next to King Vegeta's corpse. He held the black tail in his hand and yanked hard, ripping it from the saiyan king's body.

"I don't believe one could ask for a better trophy." He grinned sinisterly.

* * *

**Roughly 26 years later...**

Dr. Gero was searching the remnants of an alien space ship crash. Very little of the ship survived, but he had found trace amounts of evidence of life in and around the vessel, but it was all too small and vague; small pieces of flesh and bone, dried blood, nothing more than that. Then finally, he came across something most peculiar: A black tail.

It was almost identical to that of the one the infamous Son Goku possessed, along with the other members of his race that his micro probes followed a few years ago. It made little sense to him as to why this particular tail was the only survivor of the impact (If indeed that was the cause of the vessel's destruction), and why this tail was jet black instead of brown like the others, but he was fascinated by it regardless.

After analyzing the black tail, Gero had found that it possessed DNA similar to that of Goku and the saiyans, as he suspected. "I wonder what would happen if I were to clone this DNA?" Gero wondered.

* * *

2 years later….

"Finally, it is completed." Gero grinned triumphantly. "It's been two years, but it's finished at last." He pushed a button, which opened the stasis tank his latest creation floated slightly within. A tall, muscular bearded man with jet black hair and tail fell unceremoniously to the ground, remaining quite motionless for a moment. Gero gritted his teeth in frustration.

"It should have been able to survive in open air!" he growled, turning away from his failed experiment. "Two years wasted on a lifeless doll of a…"

"Of a what!" Gero jumped and turned back to see the bearded man standing fully upright and glaring back at him. Gero's frustration quickly turned to satisfaction. "What is this place!" asked the bearded man. "How did I get here? I thought Freeza…?"

"You have been brought back to life by my power." Gero explained. "Sever all ties to your past. Your past occupation, your life, your race, your name, forget all of it. Hence forth, you shall serve me, and you shall be known as Android 23." 23 glared at Gero, fire in his eyes.

"I am no android." He growled.

"What was that?" Snapped Gero.

"I serve nobody!" 23 roared, killing Gero by impaling two fingers through his head. "I am King of all Saiyans, Vegeta the First!" he looked down at the pathetic scientist, whose head was spilling blood all over the place. "Disgraceful. To think that he is wearing my people's armor." He removed the experimental armor Gero wore and donned it himself. He moved around a little in the new armor. "Just a cheap imitation." He grumbled. "But it will have to do." He walked around the laboratory, trying to understand where he was. Eventually, he found a large room full of large, complex computers and machinery. On one of the screens read:

_Perfect Jinzo Ningen Project: Subject #23_

accompanied by an advanced bio schematic of himself. He gave it a look of irritation and destroyed everything within the room.

"What was that!" Two young figures ran into the room, one a boy in black coat carrying a katana, the other a girl with one blue eye and one green eye, both looking in shock at the destruction caused by King Vegeta.

"Who are you two?" The king asked.

"I am Android 20." Said the white haired girl.

"And I'm Android 21." Said the black haired boy. "Were you the one who did this, Android 23?" he drew his sword, pointing it at King Vegeta.

"I am no Android! I am the king of all saiyans! King Vegeta!" The king snapped. "And you'd do best not to attack me, boy!" 21 ignored King Vegeta's statement and swiped at him with his sword. Vegeta brushed the sword effortlessly out of his hands and forced the boy onto his knees. He kicked him in the back, knocking him face first to the floor, and stomped demeaningly on him until android 20 demanded,

"Stop that! We're all androids, we shouldn't be fighting among ourselves."

"You're right, girl." King Vegeta conceded. "Gero is dead, so from now on, you will both serve under me." He shot a glance at 21, who looked ready to object to this statement. "Unless you have any valid objections..." 21 simply picked his sword back up, sheathed it, and nodded. "Are there any other androids here?" King Vegeta asked. 20 nodded. "Release them." He ordered.

20 returned a while later with four other androids behind her: One tall with thin red hair and an armored green suit, one fat and chalk white with a babyish face and a pointed hat, one thin and tall with black hair tied tightly back in a long braid and wearing a red Chinese garb, and one very large, standing over eight feet tall with short brown hair, several hundred pounds of muscle, and a gentle, almost remorseful look on his face.

"Now that you are all gathered here," King Vegeta stated. "You should all know that your creator, Gero, has been killed by my hands. As of now, you are all under my command. I am your king, and you will all do as I say or else," he fired a blast at the green armored android. "I will destroy you without a second thought. Do you understand?" The other androids looked panicked at the remains of the decimated android, then at King Vegeta. They confirmed their loyalty.

"Then as of today, a new empire begins."

**[What-if Saga: The Android Saga Side Story: The Tale of King Black Tail's Tail: End]**

**Well? Did that answer all your questions? Did it only raise even more? Either way, Good. Next chapter, we return to the present. How will Vegeta fair against 17 and 18? What are Toni's true intentions? Will Goku return to the scene? You'll just have to wait and see to find out.**

**See you then!**


	7. Who is Zero?

"It doesn't matter how many of you rust buckets there are. If one of you is too weak to handle my might, so are the rest of you." said Vegeta, looking from one android to the other.

"Maybe so," said 18, touching down in Vegeta's arena.

"But we aren't like those scrap piles you fought before." said 17.

"Fine then. Bring it on." Vegeta scoffed, setting down in the arena, opposite 17 and 18, a confident smirk on his face, his arms crossed arrogantly.

17 and 18 smirked to one another and both vanished, reappearing on either side of Vegeta, who leapt back just in time for both of his opponents to hit each other. Just as 18 charged up to Vegeta, he powered up, becoming a super saiyan and pushing her back slightly.

"His power level just jumped all of a sudden." 17 thought, somewhat surprised.

"Worthless transformation." 18 thought, smirking. "He changed his hair, so what?" She and 17 pointed a single finger at Vegeta and a powerful beam shot from their fingertips, narrowly missing Vegeta. He focused his attack on 17, holding out a hand, from which a blue light emanated from, and with a cry of,

"Big Bang Attack!" The attack hit 17 head on, blowing him aside temporarily. He then struck at 18, who punched at the same time as Vegeta, their fists colliding. What Vegeta thought would be a tied clash turned out to be a defeat for him. 18 was greatly more powerful, her punch sending Vegeta into the wall of the arena. Both androids then double teamed him, landing a simultaneous punch to his chest, shattering his armor.

"I was hoping to save this for another time," Vegeta panted as he wiped the blood from his chest wound and removed what little remained of his armored chest piece. "But you've pushed me too far." He raised a fist to the sky, building up energy into it. When what seemed to be crackling lightning glowed in his fist, he slammed it into his chest and an immense golden mass of energy formed around him.

The androids were thrown back into the wall of the arena's indent, and looked up to see the tremendous energy mass form a giant gold faceless Vegeta, wearing a long red cape of what looked like fire. _**"What do you think, androids?" **_Vegeta's voice reverberated, and the androids noticed Vegeta standing inside the head, behind where the face would be. _**"This is the symbol of the saiyan king's might!" **_

"How interesting." 17 smirked. "You certainly look more powerful, but all that form really does is make you a bigger target." He let off a number of ki beams, all of which had no effect. He and 18 then shot upward just as Vegeta stomped the ground hard, making the earth shake. They mirrored each other as they each dropped a powerful kick on the head of the mammoth lightning giant, which flicked them aside easily.

"_**Quit screwing with me!" **_Vegeta barked irritably. _**"Where is the one you call Android 23?" **_

"Like we'd know that." said 18 dully. "We've been inactive for probably a good few years. We have no idea about any androids past our creation."

"And anyway," said 17. "You're not even our real target. You're just a warm-up for our fight with Son Goku."

"_**A warm-up, am I!" **_Vegeta roared. _**"You dare put me, the king of all saiyans on a lower pedestal than that clown, Kakarot!" **_

"Well, according to Gero's data, you are second only to Son Goku." said 18. She turned her eyes away from the lightning giant and smirked. "Looks like we have guests." she pointed her right index finger across her left shoulder, firing a single beam behind her. A painful shout could be heard as the attack hit Gohan, who was accompanied by his older counterpart, Mirai, and Toni.

"So, we'll make this simple." said 17, catching Gohan and holding him in front of himself like a shield. "Power down, or the kid dies." To his surprise, however, Vegeta simply laughed loudly.

"_**You really think I give a damn if you kill that pathetic little half-breed!" **_He barked amusedly. He grabbed 17 and Gohan in his massive gold fist and squeezed harder than necessary, then dropped his crushed foes into the dirt.

"Gohan!" Mirai shouted, dropping down to check on his younger counterpart. The damage to him was minimal, though he did seem on the verge of fainting.

"I put up an energy shield at the last moment." 17 grunted as he got to his feet, brushing some dirt off of himself. "Saved me from being crushed, though don't get me wrong, I didn't care whether the kid lived or died."

"You're Android 17!" Mirai gasped. "You two are the ones who've destroyed the world in the future!"

"Are we now?" 18 smirked. "Strange that Gero doesn't have any data on you."

"Well," said Mirai, glancing at Gohan. "He kinda does."

"So what is it you want, kid?" asked 18, not looking at Gohan, Vegeta, or Mirai, but Toni. Toni looked confusedly between the golden giant form of Vegeta and the androids.

"I came… to stop you!" She said shakily, not sure herself whether she was talking to the androids or to Vegeta. This proclamation was met by immense laughter from both sides.

"_**I don't think you quite know what you're dealing with, girl!" **_Vegeta scoffed. _**"You talk to me as though the king of all saiyans is a meaningless title. The title of somebody you can threaten with empty words alone!" **_Suddenly, the giant began to shrink, and Vegeta stood at normal height, looking incredibly irritated. "Damn! To think I wasted that transformation!" He snarled to himself.

"Personally, I agree with his majesty." sneered 18, saying these last two words with sarcasm. "I'm quite offended by the way this little brat is talking to us."

"Whatd'ya say we teach her a lesson?" said 17 in agreement. He and 18 both fired a beam from their fingers, which where refracted right back at their firers when they made contact with Toni's body. "What the hell was that!" 17 shouted, getting back up from the strange refraction.

"Gero always did have a thing for 'anti-energy' technology." said 18. "Idiotic that he would replace androids like us, with infinite energy and superior fighting skills and power with trash like that." She indicated Toni. "We just need to refrain from using energy attacks against her."

"No big deal." 17 smirked. They both charged at Toni, 18 kicking her in the back, 17 tripping her, and both androids landing a harsh punch, driving her a few inches into the ground. Toni got back up and tried feebly to block the androids' simultaneous punches, which both made contact with her before she had time to block them. She reached out her hands to pull their fists away from her, and while she wasn't strong enough to make them move an inch, something very strange happened. Several long red lines glowed brightly on 17's and 18's bodies like circuit boards. They both froze, their eyes wide with shock. They both stood perfectly still, unmoving like statues, the circuit board-like lines on their bodies still glowing brightly.

"What the hell was that!" Mirai asked. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Me neither." Toni blinked at the stagnant androids. She waved a hand in front of their faces, but nothing happened.

"If you're done," Vegeta interjected. "I have some business with you!" He pointed at Mirai.

"Get Gohan somewhere safe." Mirai whispered to Toni. "And if I find you've done anything to harm him…!" Toni nodded, trying not to seem concerned by Mirai's threat. She picked up Gohan's unconscious form and took off.

"No you don't!" Vegeta scowled, chasing after her. Mirai caught up with him and his fist collided with Vegeta's.

"You again." Vegeta growled irritably. He shot an energy blast straight at Mirai, who was barely able to evade it at such a close range, a small energy burn on his face where the attack grazed him. "What do you think you're doing here!"

"I sensed that you were fighting something too big for you to handle, so I came to help." Mirai explained. This did nothing to improve Vegeta's anger.

"Don't you dare insult me!" He roared, punching Mirai straight in the face and catching him by the ankle as he fell. He yanked him back and hit him again in the gut, then blasted him where his fist collided, teleporting onto the ground below and hitting Mirai's back with his knee as he landed. "I am King Vegeta the second! How dare you even for a moment underestimate me!"

"King?" Mirai repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"You lied about the androids." said Vegeta sharply. "There were five others, not including those two." He indicated the still immobile forms of 17 and 18. "And one of them rather got my interest: #23, as they call him. He's King Vegeta the first reborn." Mirai gasped.

"But that's impossible! How…?" he blurted.

"I don't know, and don't care." Vegeta stated. "But only by killing him will I truly claim the throne that is rightfully mine!"

"But if he's been dead all this time, you've always been the king of all saiyans, haven't you?"

"No. The only way I could ever take the throne is by taking it from my father by force. Only when I kill him by my own hands can I call myself King of the greatest warrior race. And now, I finally have that chance." He laughed joyously. "At last, I can finally rule over the universe, as I was meant to from the beginning!"

"This isn't you, Vegeta!" said Mirai sharply. "The Vegeta I knew never would have let himself be…"

"The Vegeta you knew!" Vegeta repeated with a harsh laugh. "What idiotic arrogance makes you think you actually knew me!"

"Because I did. You may not recognize me, but I'm Son Gohan many years from now." said Mirai. Vegeta froze, looking shocked.

"You're… that kid? Kakarot's half-breed son?" He breathed.

"I am." said Mirai. "I live in a future where dad, Piccolo, Krillin, everyone, even you, have died at the hands of these androids, and I won't let that happen again! I came to this time to learn how to stop the androids. What I do here and now may not affect my timeline, but I need all the knowledge about the androids I can get."

"Fascinating." said Vegeta dully. He landed softly on the ground and gestured for Mirai to do the same. He did, though reluctantly. Though he was afraid Vegeta would punch him when he touched down, all he did was place a hand on his shoulder and give a rare grin. "Go ahead. Have fun with that." He said. "Just leave 23 alone. You'll recognize him instantly. He looks a lot like me."

"Um, right." said Mirai, a little awkwardly.

"What happens in the future, your present, won't be affected by what happens here in my present, right?" said Vegeta. Mirai nodded. "Then you won't get in my way when I take my rightful place."

"I have to." said Mirai firmly. "But for now, our interests are mutually benefitual. We can fight the androids together and…" Vegeta laughed at this proposition.

"Don't be an idiot." he scoffed. "The only one I'm interested in killing is 23. I don't give a damn what happens to the others, as long as they don't get in my way." He gave a dirty look at the frozen 17 and 18. "Get those things out of my sight."

Mirai powered up to super saiyan and fired his Makankōsappō at an angle, so as to obliterate both androids at the same time, but nothing happened. He tried again, this time using a Kamehameha. Nothing he tried worked. Even Vegeta threw a ki blast at one of them, only to no effect at all. Whatever was freezing them like this also seemed to be protecting them somehow.

Out of any better ideas, Mirai flew the living statues away from the remnants of Vegeta's arena, to a distant wasteland, where he remembered by the wreckage to be where he fought Vegeta when he first came to earth. he set them down near a somewhat distinctive rock formation, then set off to search for Toni and Gohan.

Meanwhile, Toni set down in a city somewhere far away from Vegeta. She tried to blend into the crowd, which proved to be difficult, due to her mismatched eyes and the fact that she was carrying an unconscious child. She sat on a bench and lay Gohan's head in her lap.

_"What was that before?"_ She thought, looking at her hand as though seeing it for the first time. _"How did I do that to the androids? All I did was touch them. And why is it I feel so strange around Gohan and Mirai? Nothing makes any sense!"_ She remembered what 21 usually said about these kinds of things when Toni brought things like these up.

"_Forget about the past. It doesn't matter. It never mattered." _he would bluntly say. That may be how 21 felt, but for Toni, it mattered to her greatly. She had flashbacks of an older Gohan, or at least someone who looked a lot like him, and every time she tried to find out about herself, it was only to raise more questions than answers.

As she was thinking about all of this, she was completely aghast as she saw a young girl in a school uniform walk by. She looked just like a young Toni, though her hair was short, it was still the exact same shade of white, and it was too much to just be a coincidence that she was heterochromic, her left eye blue and her right eye green, just like Toni's. Forgetting entirely about Gohan, she stood up and followed the girl, who didn't seem to notice her older look-alike tailing her.

_"Who is that?"_ Toni asked herself as she hustled to keep up with her mini-me as she turned a corner. _"She can't be me… can she? This is impossible!"_ She slowed down as the young 'Toni' turned a corner into an ally, where she was met by two girls, a bit taller than herself with sinister looks on their faces. The young Toni look-alike looked quite frightened of them.

"You're late." One of them said, a sinister look on her face.

"S-so-sorry." The Toni look-alike sniffled. Both girls exchanged a dark smirk, and it was then that Toni noticed that both of them had the same mismatched eye colors as herself. One girl drew a small bag from her pocket and dropped it on the ground, several coins rolling all over.

"Pick it up." she ordered. "Now." the young 'Toni' obeyed, hunching down and picking up every coin dropped. The other girl pulled a knife from her pocket, held it over the head of the white-haired girl, who was still picking up scattered coins, too busy to notice what was happening just above her, and dropped the knife. Just as the young 'Toni' was about to stand up, the knife grazed her left eye, making her cry in pain and terror, covering her eye, which had blood dripping all around it. The girls laughed and as they made to grab the white-haired girl, probably to bully her even more, she screamed and tried to push them away.

Just as she touched her bullies, red circuit board-like lines glowed all over their bodies and they froze like statues. The white-haired girl gasped, the eye that wasn't slashed wide with shock and confusion. She backed away from the girls, as though scared they might spring back to life again and kill her, only to back straight into her older counterpart. She whirled around, scared of what she might see. Her undamaged eye became even wider.

"You… you look like… me." She breathed. "Who are you?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." said Toni. "Who were those girls?" The young girl looked back at her bullies, still fearful.

"They're… I don't know who they are." she said. "They always want things from me, say they need them for some doctor."

"Doctor?" Toni repeated.

"Doctor…. Gero, I think they said." said the younger girl, trying to think. She looked at her hands, as though they didn't belong to her. "What was that?" She said in a low voice, though sounding like she was hoping Toni could answer. "All I did was touch them." She whimpered and slapped a hand to her injured eye, but slowly withdrew it to find that, aside from the residual blood on her face, her eye was completely healed. "What is this?" She asked, panicking. "What am I?"

"I've been asking myself that for a long time." said Toni. "What is your name?" The girl thought for a moment, then said pitifully,

"I don't know." said the younger girl. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." said Toni. "How old are you?"

"I don't know." Toni's look-alike looked ready to cry. Then, all of a sudden, her eyes changed, her left eye orange and her right red. She then said in a warped voice, "I have to go. Zero needs me."

"Zero? Who is Zero?" asked Toni. Her look-alike's eyes returned to normal and she gasped, as though she was just then remembering where she was.

"Zero?" she repeated. "I… I don't know." Her eyes changed again and she walked away, as though in a trance.

"Wait! Come back!" Toni called, following her. "Where are you going! What are you talking about! Who's Zero?" But just as she caught up to the girl, blue circuit board-like markings lined her body and she vanished. Toni stared at the spot where her apparent younger self used to be. For what seemed like hours, she was unable to move, take her eyes off the spot, or even blink. Finally, she simply blurted out the only words that came to mind:

"What the hell just happened?"

"Toni?" Gohan was walking to her. "What are you doing?"

"I… what just happened?" Toni repeated. Gohan looked at her, confused.

"What is it Toni?" Gohan asked. Toni simply shook her head.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." she said simply.

Meanwhile, in the wreckage of Gero's laboratory, the androids were sitting by, discussing what they were going to do to face the challenge before them.

"Who ever said we needed to fight this bastard?" said 21, fitting a pair of katanas under his belt. "I mean, our only real purpose is to kill Son Goku, so why not just search for him?"

"I can't locate his energy signature." 22 answered, several incomprehensible symbols running through his blue eyepiece. "Son's signature is quite distinctive, so normally I would be able to track him easily, but so far, he's impossible to find."

"Well, we're all androids here! Vegeta can't sense our energy." 21 retorted. "We'll have all the time we need to find and kill Son."

"You're forgetting just how Vegeta is." said 23, whose injuries had just recently been fixed by 24. "If we don't meet him in the time he…"

"What do you mean 'we!'" 21 interjected. "The only one he wants to fight is you, remember? If you humor him for a while, we're free to kill everyone we want until we get Son for as long as it takes." He smirked. "Or is the great king of all saiyans too scared to stand up his crazed brat of a son alone?"

"21 has a point. None of us but our 'great king' have to face Vegeta." said 22. "Besides, I have a personal vendetta with Son Goku, and I'm not letting this arrogant little bastard get in the way. You know what? Screw it! I'll just go kill him now! I don't care who gets in my way, I'll kill them no sweat!" Blasting a hole in the ceiling, 22 flew off.

"21, 24. You two are coming with me." said 23 firmly. He glared at 21. "And don't think for a moment you can best me in battle." 21, remembering his first encounter with the saiyan king, simply, crossed his arms and looked away, grumbling.

"Do you believe we will be able to defeat Vegeta?" asked 24, sounding very worried. "He almost killed us before."

"Well, thanks to that thrashing, I've become far more powerful." 23 smirked. "Plus, if things get too bad, I still have something that will guarantee my victory." His saiyan tail swished and wrapped tightly around his waist, giving it the appearance of a furry, black belt. "He will regret ever picking a fight with King Black Tail."

**To be continued….**

**Sorry it's been so long since this has been updated, and sorry again if it was a disappointment. Transitioning from** **a side story back to the present has been more difficult than I would have imagined. Hopefully, next chapter will be posted in less time than this one took , and things will start to pick up again, and if this chapter made little to no sense, good. That just means the story is going the way I intended. **

**See you then!**


	8. Android Chronicle & Beginning of the End

**[Android 20 a.k.a. 'Toni']**

Android 20. Is that really my name? Or is it just a way to identify me from the androids? I call myself Toni, but it's just a false name, a pseudonym to make me feel as though I have a life beyond that of Android 20. There are so many questions that I find myself asking, so many mysteries, and every time I get close to discovering the truth, I only find myself asking even more questions than before.

I have been told to forget the past, because to an android it has no importance. But for me, that's not true. My past holds so many answers, yet so many mysteries. Where did I come from? What is my true name? The first thing about my life that I remember is awakening to see Dr. Gero, a scientist who supposedly created me, who told me what my purpose in life was: To find and kill someone by the name of Son Goku.

I had asked him: 'Who is Son Goku? Why does he deserve to die?' I was never answered. Only days later, Dr. Gero was killed by someone by the name of King Vegeta, or Android 23. From then on, any hopes of learning the answers to my past seemed lost. I followed King Black Tail's orders, attacking the city nearby, along with five others of my kind. We were soon thrashed by the son of King Vegeta, Vegeta II.

He gave us twelve hours to be ready to truly face him, during which time, I found something that gave me some hope: A schematic that proved that I had indeed lived before becoming one of Gero's creations, and the inspiration for the closest thing I have ever come to having a true name: The pseudonym Toni. Soon after, I found two others who I thought could help us in our struggle. Two androids by the names of 17 and 18, who arrogantly left to fight Vegeta II. I departed to stop them, only to soon meet somebody who at the very sight of him caused memories to flash through my head: Son Gohan. Why do I remember him? What importance is he to me?

After facing 17 and 18, I discovered another strange thing that I doubt even Gero could explain: the androids became completely immobilized at my very touch. Soon after, I found others like me, with the exact same eyes as me, a girl who was quite young, but bears a near identical resemblance to myself. Though her blue eye had been damaged, she had healed it. Could I have the same ability? When I talked to her, she proved to know as little about herself as I did about myself. The only conclusion I can reach is that this child is a younger version of myself, as unlikely and impossible though it may seem.

Her last words as we met sparked a question that burns in my mind above all others. 'I have to go. Zero needs me.' She seemed as though she were being manipulated, her eyes changed and she vanished. Who is Zero? Does he know the answers I seek? And who were those girls bullying my possible younger self? Are they related or involved with Zero somehow? Only time can tell.

**[Android 21]**

I am known as Android 21. I have no other name. I have no memories of myself, other than those of fighting for survival. For all I know, I never had a name, that I was simply abducted or abandoned before I could even be named. My only feelings are those that I am commanded to have. I've always been an underling, you see.

I was one of one thousand test subjects for the Red Ribbon Army, a massive organization hell bent on world domination. My identification number, #21, was the only thing the distinguished me from the other hundreds of test subjects. For all of our premature lives, we were trained to fight, to kill, to survive. Gender, race, they were meaningless, as long as they could stand, fight, and survive.

In my life, there were no allies, no friends. Only superiors and enemies. My only purpose in life was to follow the orders of my superiors and to survive. Any disobedience, any mistakes, any insubordination would be punished harshly. I learned that very early on. But the biggest mistake any test subject could make was to die.

I have learned never to question my superiors, nor my own being. Why was I born? Why must I obey? Why do I kill? Questions such as these are intolerable. I was born to obey, I obey so that I won't be killed, I kill so that I may survive, I survive because I was born to.

Every one of the thousand was subjected to experiments that tested our very being. Our bodies, our genomes were tampered with drastically by these strange experimentations. If we weren't killed by them, we immerged from them more powerful than before.

By adulthood, there were only one hundred test subjects alive. Each subject was paired into groups of ten, and each group was sent to a different room. It was in these rooms that we were pitted in mortal combat against each other. We were each free to use any tactics, any dirty tricks, any methods necessary to survive.

I was among the final remaining ten. These gritty survivors were subjected to the ultimate terror: cybernetic reconstruction. The scientists used no sedatives upon us, and had no regard for our comforts. Five either died by a miscalculation, or committed suicide to end the intolerable pain of the hellish procedure. Finally, before the final trial could be assigned to us, the trial that would decide who the only one worthy of living was, something strange happened. Explosions sounded all around us, and the ceiling crumbled over our heads. We, the five remaining subjects, now androids, were ordered into containment while the ground below our feet crumbled. The last thing I remember seeing before containment was a young boy in bright orange, tearing the place apart.

When I awoke days later, though it might have been years, even centuries, I couldn't say, it was to see Dr. Gero, who was once young and learning, now aged and practiced. Soon after my reawakening, I was informed that I was the only survivor of the Red Ribbon Army's destruction. I had survived! I had arisen beyond any of the other one thousand I had grown up with. But then, only days later, I had discovered that Dr. Gero had been killed at the hands of one of his latest projects, Android 23. Even now, I don't know whether to be accepting or resentful at the fact that it is now the self-proclaimed King Black Tail who is my superior, the one I must obey above all others.

What does the future hold for me? That's as foolish a question as what my past holds: as long as I survive, nothing else matters.

**[Android 22 a.k.a. Tao] **

I was once the most feared, powerful man in the world. When I was sent on a mission, there was no one, nothing that could stand in my way. I always took great pride and pleasure in killing, even if the people I killed weren't on my hit list. And to think, I actually got paid to kill. But one day, I was hired by the Red Ribbon Army to wipe out my most dangerous target yet: Son Goku. When I received word, I assumed I was up against a man, an adult whose strength, skill, and cunning was on par, if that, with my own. I was stunned to learn, however, that what I was sent to kill wasn't a man, but a little boy. At first I was insulted when I found out, but then I soon learned why I was sent to this task and not some Red Ribbon lackey.

For a kid, he was deadly. Maybe it was because I underestimated him because he was a kid. No. Even if I didn't let my guard down, Son Goku was the most frightening thing I had ever come across. His power was such, that even I, the infamous mercenary Tao, was dominated. I tried every sneak attack I could think of, every dirty trick in the book, and yet I was still bested by the little monkey boy, and dirtiest move backfired on me.

When that grenade went off, I feared it was the end for me, that I would die a long, searing, and painful death. I feel sickened with myself at the thoughts I had in my supposed death. Thoughts of regret for the people I killed, the wish to atone for my sins, the wish to spend my last moments as a kind, honest person. Even just thinking of it, I am nauseated with myself!

But soon, I was found by a group of soldiers with the Red Ribbon Army. Though many were reluctant to help me, a few, possibly in fear of me, brought me to someone by the name of Dr. Gero. I shamefully begged him to fix me, to help me so that I could live. I offered him every single Zeni I had ever earned from my previous hits. To my immense satisfaction, he accepted. Within the day, I was saved. Much of my once strong, fit, agile body was weighed down with heavy, clunky steel, but I was alive regardless.

The good doctor claimed that with time, he could fix me to become stronger than ever before, but I declined the offer. At that moment at least. I had learned that the Tenkaichi Budokai was approaching, and there were traitors that I needed to eliminate before turning my attention to Son Goku. Though I tried with all my power to kill Tenshinhan, the traitor to the Crane School, I failed.

I was warned by the traitor never to be seen by him again, or else it would mean my end. I was fearful at first, but when I returned to Dr. Gero after my failure, he went ahead with his promise to make me more powerful than conceivably possible, but warned my never to fail again. The procedure that made me the way I am now was the most painful thing I had ever felt, even more hellish than my near-death experience. My body, once mutilated to the point that it was made mostly mechanical, was returned to its original form. It was as though my near-death experience never happened. Metal plating was grafted to my torso like armor, my left eye modified with something called a 'scouter' that Gero picked up in his travels that once belonged to something called a 'saiyan,' my body was implanted with many strange and dangerous enhancements, and I was given a new title that I now proudly bear: Android 22.

Now that I have reemerged, Tenshinhan the traitor seeks to kill me, though he is of no concern to me at all anymore. Now that I have reemerged, now that I'm more powerful than any mercenary, bounty hunter, or assassin on this earth, I am now free hunt down my greatest target yet: Son Goku.

**[Android 24 a.k.a. 'Juyo']**

Many people hate Dr. Gero for the things he had done. Many resent his actions, his inhumane experiments on human lives. While I do not approve of what Dr. Gero does, I am indebted to him. As much as I wish not to be involved with such a bad person, as much as I hate to be his slave, while his actions that made me what I am now were selfish and cruel, I owe him for saving my life.

Like 22 and 23, I remember my previous life, and even my name. I was known as Andre in my years before becoming an android, and despite my great height, muscular frame, and frightening appearance, I was loved by the children in my hometown. I always did like children. Despite being larger than most people, I lead an ordinary life. I worked at a local bakery, I was well-known and liked by the townspeople. Life for me was ordinary, but one day, it became strange, and ugly.

When I was about forty two, I was beginning to suffer from some sort of heart condition, and my body was growing at an alarming rate. My doctor had discovered that I suffered from Acromegaly _**(It's too complex to explain here. Wikipedia/Google it)**_, and that there was nothing he could do for me. I was only days away from death, but one day, I received a house call from a different kind of doctor. One by the name of Dr. Gero.

Though the pain he put me through was immense, he managed to put an end to my unnatural growth, and to my heart conditions. Though my outward appearance was almost completely unchanged, my body on the inside was almost unrecognizable as a human body. Could I ever return to my hometown, and have things return to the peaceful way they were? Probably not, no. I know I can't return to the way my life originally was, but I am alive. I was saved by Dr. Gero, and I owed him greatly for it.

A year after I was renamed Android 24, an android 23 called upon me to assist him in 'building a new empire.' I was shocked and almost even devastated to hear that 23 killed Dr. Gero. It seemed impossible for me to repay him for what he had done for me. The least I could do was follow 23 and help him where it seemed necessary. Now, he is calling upon me to aid him as he fights his son. I am no fighter, I was not created to be one, but I will do all I can. For Dr. Gero's sake.

**[Android Chronicle: End]**

"I have a hard time believing that he could have dropped off my radar." Tao grumbled, using his scouter yet again to attempt to locate Son Goku. Though it wasn't Son's he detected several high readings, both of which in opposite directions. The direction he was facing he was sure belonged to his 'teammates,' while the others he was unsure of. He turned around and followed the way towards the unknown power levels.

_**At the Son Homestead...**_

"How is he?" Chichi asked her son, who was sitting by Goku's side.

"He seems to be doing better than before." said Gohan, sensing his father's energy. After leaving the city where he and Toni hid, Mirai told Gohan to return home to ensure his father's safety. "He should be back up and running soon enough."

"How soon?" Yamcha asked uneasily.

"Probably a few hours." said Gohan uncertainly. "Why?"

"Because I don't think we have a few hours." said Tenshinhan seriously, who had just come in from his guard shift. He and the others were well aware that it was impossible to sense the ki of an android, being that they didn't have any, so they took regular shifts patrolling the Son Homestead.

"Is it one of them?" asked Piccolo.

"I'm sure it is." Tenshinhan nodded. Gohan stood, picked up his sword, told his father,

"Don't worry dad. I won't let any harm come to you." and joined Piccolo and the others outside to deal with the possible threat. When he walked outside, it was to find Yamcha, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and Krillin already poised for battle, Piccolo with his weighted cloak and turban removed. Looking up, he saw something in the distance closing in. He unsheathed his blade and dropped into a defensive stance next to Piccolo.

"I'm surprised to see that you still use that blade, Gohan." Piccolo grinned, looking down at him.

"I know I might not stand a chance against these androids, but I have to do everything I can to protect myself, my dad, and my friends. And if this blade can help me somehow, I would gladly use it." Gohan stated. "There have been so many times where I've been defenseless, relying on others to pull me out of the fire, watching as my friends fought and died because I couldn't muster the courage to stand and fight, but I'm not going to let that happen anymore! I don't care if I am weak! I will fight to my last breath to protect what's important to me!" And at this speech, Piccolo could have sworn he saw Gohan's dark eyes flash a familiar shade of green. He smiled at his student.

"Well said, kid… no, Gohan." he said. He turned back to where the android was closing in to flinch, as he was mere feet away from them now.

"You again." said Tenshinhan in a serious voice. It was Android 22, formerly Tao. "Didn't I tell you before? The next time I see you…"

"Remember our last encounter?" Tao interrupted, a smug look on his face. "You barely stood a chance against me then."

"There's something you probably didn't know about that last encounter, though." Tenshinhan retorted. "You've barely seen my true power. I've been holding back this entire time. So let's settle things one and for all. No more dirty tricks, no more secrets. We'll fight each other on a fair, even playing field." Tao laughed hysterically at this statement.

"A pathetic ruse!" He guffawed. "You? Fight me on equal terms? Laughable! Pathetic! Even with all of your friends combined, your power is pitiful compared to that of my true target." Everyone's heart stopped as a massive, fiery red flash of light engulfed Tenshinhan, and dissipated as suddenly as it appeared. Tao looked completely bewildered. A few symbols were visibly displayed in his scouter, and although no one else could read them, Tao seemed terrified at whatever number the symbols read. His expression quickly returned to a grin, but it wasn't an arrogant or smug one. It was of enthusiasm and interest. "Well now. How interesting." he said coolly. "I never would have suspected. I suppose we could do with a more… appropriate place to fight." And he floated off, Tenshinhan following.

"Gohan. Get the dragon radar." Piccolo instructed Gohan, who seemed confused by this sudden statement.

"Why? What f…" But before he could finish his inquiry, Piccolo said sharply,

"Do as you're told, boy! Now!" Putting away his sword, Gohan rushed into the house and asked Bulma for the radar. He returned to Piccolo with it.

"Here it is, Mr. Piccolo." He said nervously. "Why do you need it?"

"Gather every last one of the dragon balls as fast as you can, and bring them all to Kami's Lookout when you're finished." Piccolo ordered firmly. "And don't question my order. Now go." Gohan nodded and flew off in search of the seven magic balls.

"Why did you tell him to do that?" Krillin asked. "What do you plan to do with the dragon balls?"

"I have a plan. It's a risky one, we may be out of time, but it's all I can come up with." said Piccolo plainly. Krillin was about to question this plan, but Piccolo simply responded, "I can't explain it now. I have to get to the Lookout now. Gohan's probably found at least two of the dragon balls by now. And don't follow me." He took off without another word.

Because of his intense training in recent years, Gohan had already traveled half of the world and collected three of the dragon balls in less than a half an hour, and was already en route to the fourth one. Just as he was about to snatch it, however, he was forced to dodge as something swiped at him from the shadows. He whipped out his sword and deflected a second attack.

"Nicely done, kid. You seem to have improved since last time." It was Android 21. He kicked the dragon ball into his hand and examined it. "What is this thing? I've never seen anything like it."

"None of your business! Just hand it over!" said Gohan sharply, to which 21 raised an eyebrow in interest.

"If it's that important to you, it must be my business." said 21, still looking at the orange sphere with interest. His dark eyes saw a small glimmer and he looked back to Gohan. "You have more like it, don't you?" Gohan's temper started to rise, and 21 pocketed the ball and raised his katana. "If you want it, either tell me what it is, or take it from me."

_**Elsewhere...**_

"Zero?" Mirai repeated. Toni had just recounted the events that she had witnessed. The child that bore such a distinct resemblance to her, the strange powers she possessed, and her parting words, saying that she had to see 'Zero.' "Is that someone important?"

"I don't know." said Toni. "I never remember hearing about anyone by that name before." She gasped as though touched by an electric shock. Images flashed through her mind of cybernetic data, a pair of golden eyes, and… "Android 19!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I don't know how I know this, but Android 19 is somehow connected to whoever Zero is. But he's…" She didn't need the sudden memory flash to remember that 19 was reduced to nothing but a head. One that was currently in Vegeta's possession.

"What is it?" Mirai asked.

"He's with Vegeta now." Toni answered. "Even if it is still alive, it's foolish to go back there."

"Especially now." said Mirai. He had found Vegeta's energy signature, and it was pretty strong, as though he was fighting, or getting ready to fight someone.

_**In the remnants of North City...**_

Androids 23 and 24 set down in the now damaged arena made by Vegeta, who turned with a malicious grin on his face at the sight of his father.

"Well now. Have you finally decided to come out of hiding and fight like a true saiyan?" He said smugly. He then saw 24 and frowned.

"He is only a spectator." 23 stated, seeing Vegeta's look of resentment. "An interesting design." He added, looking around at the ruined arena. Even though greatly damaged, he still found its design greatly familiar. "It reminds me greatly of the old coliseum on Planet Vegeta."

"My greatest desire was to fight and kill you in the very coliseum you refer to." said Vegeta, throwing his cape aside and stepping down to face his father. "But since it's been decimated along with the rest of our world, I did the next best thing and replicated it. It's been ruined by some pests earlier, but it's not as though it wouldn't suffer more damage at our hands, anyway."

"This time you will not be so fortunate." stated 23. "You will regret ever facing me, the mighty King Black Tail. For you, tomorrow will not come."

"Your time on the throne is at an end." said Vegeta as he and his father faced each other in the center of the arena. "I am the one destined to rule the universe now. I am King Vegeta II, and my reign begins today!"

**To be continued….**

**A/N: Sorry if it felt like this chapter ended too soon or felt like filler. This was really more to set up for the events to come than anything. **

**I've been wanting to provide additional background on the other androids, but never found the time or place to fit it, hence the Android Chronicle. I didn't provide anything for Android 19 because he's much less important and was made from nothing, so there's no real story behind him anyway (not yet, at least), 23 already had a sidestory devoted to himself, so there was no need to elaborate any further on him, and 17 and 18 don't have that much significance to the story either (or do they?), so they were excluded too. **

**On another note, for those of you that didn't quite catch it, 24's real name, Andre, was taken from the famous wrestler/actor André René Roussimoff, aka 'Andre The Giant,' who also suffered from Acromegaly.**

**Next chapter will be where everything begins to end.**

**See you then!**


	9. Tao: The Ultimate Assassin

"Here it is." Tao stated as he touched down on the broken, stone tile ground. He and Tenshinhan stood on the remains of an arena of an old training ground. "Do you recognize this place?" Tien nodded simply. Even as moss-eaten and ruined as the place was, he easily recognized it as the temple of the Crane School. "And now," Tao continued. "You will die here by my hands, in the school that you betrayed!"

"It's true. I may be a traitor. I may have disrespected the Crane School." said Tien, stepping to the edge of the arena and setting a small ceramic bottle on the rotted wooden surface. "But I only did so because the Crane School deserves no respect! And today, its last member will die." Tao laughed.

"You didn't fool me with that little display back there." He smirked. "You may be able to exceed my own power level, but for how long?"

"Why don't you find out!" Tien yelled, a fiery red aura flaring around him as he charged Tao with lightning speed.

**At the Son Homestead….**

"He must be fighting with the android now." Krillin muttered, feeling Tenshinhan's energy spike. Piccolo nodded. "Think he'll be alright?"

"Of course." said Piccolo plainly. "He's no Super Saiyan, but he's mastered a technique that neither I, nor Yamcha could master."

"KAIOKEN!" Tien roared, circling Tao too quickly for him to keep up with, even with his embedded scouter to aid him. Suddenly, he received a massive blow from behind, and as he crashed and rolled across the slate tiles, he was kicked backward, and before he could land again, he was thrown high into the sky, where he pointed a hand directly at the ground below, dozens of shots bursting from his finger tips as Tien flew up to him, brushing the arm firing the attacks aside and pointing a single finger straight at his face.

"Dodon-pa!" Tao just barely evaded the attack, though a straight burn on his cheek was visible. His left arm reconfigured, his hand integrating back into the forearm, which became a cannon.

"Chou Dodon-pa!" And a massive attack burst from the cannon, just as Tien shouted,

"Shin Kikoho!" Tien's attack cut Tao's significantly, but not enough to stop it completely, the weakened blast hitting him square in the chest, making him lose altitude. Tao ceased the opportunity, his left arm reconfiguring back into its original form, a sharp blade revealing itself from the wrist of his right, a blue glow surrounding it. Tien fired a second Shin Kikoho shot, sending Tao sky rocketing backward. A third shot of Shin Kikoho, and Tao was thrown back as he began to plan another attack. "Sorry, Chaotzu." Tien thought to himself as he let Tao get a bit closer to him, only to shoot a fourth Kikoho.

"Enough of that!" Tao roared irritably. He made a strange motion with his hands and shouted, "Blood Carver!" A thin, red shaft shot from one of his fingertips, hitting Tien in a small bleeding spot on his chest, making him grunt in pain, but smirked up at Tao.

"Is that all? I expected better…" He didn't finish his sentence. As he was about to move into a fighting stance, he found the movement in his torso to be slowed, even restricted. "What?"

"Not such a laughable technique, is it?" Tao grinned sinisterly. "Blood Carver. A technique I've been trying to perfect for years, even before I was wounded by that brat, Son Goku. And now, at long last, it's completed." Tien shot a hand up at the same time as Tao, and they both shouted in unison,

"Dodon-pa!" The twin yellow beams connected, Tien's slowly overpowering Tao's, but Tao still held the advantage.

"Blood Carver!" He shouted again, a second thin red ray firing from another fingertip, this time connecting to a scrape on the arm Tien was using to fire his attack, which flickered away feebly, Tao's Dodon-pa blasting Tien right in the face. "Blood Carver!" Again, a part of Tien became manipulated by the sinister cybernetic assassin.

"That ability is a joke!" Tien scoffed. "Kaioken X3!" Though he was slowed down immensely by the Blood Carver, Tien bounded around, literally flying circles around Tao, becoming a bright red blur.

"That won't work." Tao stated, throwing a fist in a seemingly random direction, hitting Tien across the face. He was surprised, however, to be knocked off his feet and blown away by an attack from behind. He regained his footing, standing back up, surprised to find not one, but four Tenshinhans standing before him. "Well played." Said Tao simply, looking from one Tenshinhan to another. "I never considered Multi-form to be of much use, but I suppose you've proved me wrong."

Tao then divided himself into five, going after the four that opposed him. Each Tien had his hands full, except for one, which was fighting two Taos.

"_Strange. I remember there being four."_ The 'main' Tao thought. He only counted three Tiens. The fourth was nowhere to be seen, by eyes, or by scouter. _"I'm interested… what would happen if…" _He performed the same strange hand movement as before, firing a fourth Blood Carver, this one hitting one of the Tiens on its hand. He jerked the finger holding this fourth Carver and all three Tiens' left hands were jerked back. "Fascinating!" He muttered.

He reunited his clones into one, and reconfigured both arms into cannons, which he pointed at the three Tiens before him. "Chou Dodonren-pa!" An immense barrage of Chou Dodon-pa's rained down on the three Tiens, all of which were slowed down too much by Tao's blood carver.

"Dodon-pa!" the attack shot Tao square in the back, making him lose altitude, narrowly missing the other three Tiens.

"You were so cocky, thinking you'd won that you didn't even make sure I wasn't setting something up." The Tien in the air stated. He moved rapidly back to the ground, reuniting himself. "And for as powerful as you consider that 'Blood Carver,' it'll only be your own downfall."

"Do you really think that I'm so foolish?" Tao snapped. "You've been hooked by my new power four times. I don't know how you managed to use that Dodon-pa on me before, but now you're finished! BLOOD CARVER!" Six more Blood Carvers latched to Tien, immobilizing his entire body.

"Do you know what's so incredible about this technique?" Sneered Tao. "When all ten hooks are in place, I don't even have to lift a finger to slaughter you! Now you'll find out first hand why I call it The Blood Carver!" Tien's body erupted with unbearable pain as what felt like scalpels ravaged his body from the inside, slicing open veins and arteries. His body felt thrown off balance, almost completely incapable of any movement.

"Do you think this helps you!" Tien forced through the hellish internal pain. "This may make me suffer, but not enough to kill me! And you need your hands in order to maintain that technique. You can't move. _You_ can't finish me off."

"Neither can you!" Tao retorted. "I'm making you wish you could die, and you can't move to stop the pain. Admit it, you're out of ideas, your end is near, traitor!"

"Not yet." Tenshinhan grunted. "Shiyouken!" And a second set of arms grew from his shoulders, totally unrestricted by Tao's Blood Carver. Tao's eyes went wide. Even though he had taken substantially less damage than his opponent, he knew the situation was about to be turned around. With the last of his power, Tien gathered energy in his newly grown arms and shouted,

"_MAFUBA!" _A sudden maelstrom of green light surrounded Tao, which sucked him inside. He screamed, frightened and confused as he spiraled uncontrollably, the only thing between life and death was Tien, who struggled to maintain control over the legendary technique's power. "THIS ENDS… NOW!" Tien roared, guiding the maelstrom towards the small bottle on the edge of the ravaged arena. The storm of ancient power spiraled fast and dangerously into the tiny bottle, until normal light filled the ancient training grounds, the bottle was sealed, and the sinister Mercenary Tao, Android 22, was trapped within it forever.

"You were right about one thing, Tao… That this place would be where I would die." Tien breathed, trying with what little strength his body had left to hold himself up. "I may have fallen… but at least I took you… with me…" And with that, all four arms gave into the pressure, and he collapsed hard on the broken tiled floor. "Sorry, Chaotzu…."

With his battle won, his work finished at last, Tenshinhan died where he lay.

**Meanwhile, in the new Saiyan Coliseum….**

Vegeta and his father, known now as Android 23, clashed on near equal terms, the saiyan king having a small, but obvious, level of dominance over his son, who despite being of lesser strength, had the wildest of grins on his face, confident, arrogant, as though he knew the outcome of this battle decades before it even happened.

A surprise ki blast from his father and he was blown wide open, an advantage the king took quick advantage of, only for his son to vanish before the punch could even be finished. He whirled around, blocking an attack from Vegeta.

"So, even as an android, you still maintain that saiyan skill?" He smirked. "The ability to grow stronger from your battle wounds. I seem to remember you being powerless to me last we met.

"And now you will perish by my hands!" 23 roared powerfully.

"Is that a fact?" Vegeta laughed. His hair turned bright gold, his eyes light green, his grin wilder. "You forget that I'm now a warrior of legendary power: A Super Saiyan! Your reign ends today. Mine begins now!"

**To Be Continued….**

**Sorry if this chapter felt a little cut short. I wanted it to be longer, to go further with the Vegeta fight, but it somehow just didn't fit. On that note, next chapter is the decisive battle between Father and son for the crown. No interruptions or sidetracks this time.**

**See you then!**


	10. King Vegeta the 2nd?

Androids 23 and 24 set down in the now damaged arena made by Vegeta, who turned with a malicious grin on his face at the sight of his father.

"Well now. Have you finally decided to come out of hiding and fight like a true saiyan?" He said smugly. He then saw 24 and frowned.

"He is only a spectator." 23 stated, seeing Vegeta's look of resentment. "An interesting design." He added, looking around at the ruined arena. Even though greatly damaged, he still found its design greatly familiar. "It reminds me greatly of the old coliseum on Planet Vegeta."

"My greatest desire was to fight and kill you in the very coliseum you refer to." said Vegeta, throwing his cape aside and stepping down to face his father. "But since it's been decimated along with the rest of our world, I did the next best thing and replicated it. It's been ruined by some pests earlier, but it's not as though it wouldn't suffer more damage at our hands, anyway."

"This time you will not be so fortunate." stated 23. "You will regret ever facing me, the mighty King Black Tail. For you, tomorrow will not come."

"Your time on the throne is at an end." said Vegeta as he and his father faced each other in the center of the arena. "I am the one destined to rule the universe now. I am King Vegeta II, and my reign begins today!"

"That pathetic bravado will be your downfall!" The saiyan king roared, charging at Vegeta. His fist collided with Vegeta's, their power evenly matched. With his opposite hand, 23 fired a beam at point blank, hitting Vegeta square in the chest. Vegeta flung several rapid punches in rapid succession, all of which 23 either batted away or dodged, except for a rare one or two, which hit him head on.

When he began to gain comprehension of his son's attack pattern, 23 blasted Vegeta directly with a full-power ki wave, which exploded on contact.

"Gyarikku-HOU!" A violently violet wave was fired by Vegeta from behind 23, who shot an Execution Beam in defense. The beam attacks struggled against one another, unable to get an inch on the other. Vegeta put on a wild grin, and in a sudden surge of power, his eyes turned green for a moment, and his attack powered easily through 23's, blowing him off his feet and rolling painfully across the arena floor.

Vegeta ran at the still rolling 23, arm outstretching, until his hand was just an inch from King Black Tail's. "Big Bang Attack!" 23 was blown away by this devastating attack, but not out of the fight yet. Though his armor was completely disintegrated, he was beaten, bruised, and in no fit state to continue, King Vegeta I stood back up.

"Just die already." Vegeta snarled irritably. "You're already dead at this point!"

"That's where you're wrong, you arrogant brat!" 23 growled. He pulled some sort of green item from his belt, and injected its contents into a metal tab in the center of his exposed chest. Veins bulged all across his body, his injuries instantaneously repairing themselves, and his muscles grown larger.

"Incredible!" the saiyan king breathed incredulously. He smirked up at his son. His blood was literally boiling with power, his heart pumping at an alarming rate. "This is truly unnerving, frightening, even! But the power it gives me from zenkai alone is unbelievable, as you will soon find out!" he caught Vegeta's hand as he made for another attack, swung him around in circles, and threw him to the other end of the arena. He took off, flying in an arc around him, and kicking him straight in the head, sending him flying into the sky.

"The Saiyan King using steroids?" Vegeta snarled as he recovered, blocking a merciless blow from 23. "Pitiful that you would stoop to such a level!"

"Steroids? Hardly." 23 sneered. "You may be familiar with a certain vegetation known as 'senzu beans?" Vegeta gasped. He didn't like where this was going. "Dr. Gero discovered these interesting, no, amazing beans, and tried to grow them himself. Think of it, enough of them to feed an army for years, enough to heal when in the worst possible bind. But he failed. Instead, he created in interesting reproduction; a chemical which used the senzu's DNA as a base, and infused it with a chemical compound that can accelerate the body's adrenaline. And it can truly unleash a saiyan's potential."

"Because it heals even the most fatal wounds." Vegeta finished, now understanding. "So, your power is even on par with my own now, isn't it?"

"Not quite." King Vegeta smirked. In a quick rush, he blew through Vegeta's block, impaling through his rib cage, able to now feel his heart beat. Vegeta, disgusted, kicked him back, holding his head into a lock and dropping altitude at an alarming rate, letting go at the last moment and escaping his own destruction. 23 too was about to turn and avoid the worst injury from his landing.

"Those senzu-steroids have a downside to them, don't they?" said Vegeta, touching down lightly on the arena floor. "Once that adrenaline rush is over, you're too weak to move, aren't you?" 23 stood, not badly hurt.

"Think that if you will…" He retorted.

**Elsewhere….**

"What are these things? Tell me!" 21 demanded, his attacking katana blocked by Gohan's sword, though he had a very obvious advantage. Gohan was pushed onto his back, using both hands and a foot to push his enemy's sword back.

"I'm not telling you a thing!" Gohan snapped. He brushed the katana away and scrambled to his feet, trying to run, but 21 simply smirked and kicked the boy in the back, making him fall on his front, the three dragon balls he had found spilling across the ground. 21 looked at them with interest, picking them up one by one and examining them.

"So, from what I can piece together, there are seven of these?" He said, his dark eyes turning from one with a single star to another with seven. "And what are they? What do they do when you have them all?" He stomped hard on Gohan's leg, a small crunch audible. "I should remind you that you're in no position to be having any thoughts of escaping without telling me what I wish to know."

"I'm not telling you anything!" Gohan repeated, trying to pull himself free of 21's grip. He suddenly screamed loudly as a katana pierced straight through his already injured leg. 21 then drew a second sword, and as Gohan turned his head, the point of the blade was just millimeters from his face.

"You're pretty tough," 21 growled irritably. "But I'm not one to show mercy to anyone, even to a kid."

"And who ever said I was asking for mercy?" Gohan retorted. 21 laughed loudly, amused with the child's bravado.

"There are others who know about these items, are there not?" he said. "It's of no concern to me if you die. I could kill you right now, and I could find another one of your friends who will be a little more cooperative. Why should I care, hell why should anyone care if something happens to you?" Gohan tried feebly to pull the blade from his leg, but in his awkward position and weakened state, it was impossible to remove it, much less reach the hilt.

"Why do you want to know about these so badly?" Gohan demanded.

"Why are you so hell-bent on keeping the truth from me?" 21 retorted. "What is it you have to hide?"

"I'm not telling you anything about the Dragon Balls!" Gohan roared. The moment he said these words, he realized he shouldn't have.

"Dragon Balls, huh?" 21 smirked. "Is that what they're called?" A sudden realization seemed to come over 21, and Gohan even further regretted saying the name of the artifacts out loud. "Dragon Balls…. Yes, that's a name that rings a bell… They're what restored the great Demon King Piccolo back to full power, if I'm not mistaken."

"How do you….?" Gohan gasped. He heard stories from his father and Piccolo about the Demon King, but he never would have guessed someone like this android would know anything related to those stories.

"Don't underestimate my knowledge." 21 stated. "Not sure if you noticed, but you and your other friends have been closely observed by Dr. Gero. Ever since the Red Ribbon Army's downfall, you, Son Goku, every fighter of notable power level has been tracked and followed constantly by miniscule trackers little larger than a house fly. And all that information is relayed directly to me."

Gohan's eyes fell on a bizarre-looking insect creature hovering just overhead. There was something metallic about it, and he gasped as he realized just what it really was.

"Ah, yes. There's one." 21 grinned, seeing Gohan notice of it. "And they haven't just been watching you, collecting information about your fighting style, no, some of them have even been collecting DNA, ki, things that could prove to be of vital use…" Gohan caught the bug in his hand and crushed it.

"No use doing that now. Not when your fighting data has already been collected." 21 smirked. "That's right, Son Gohan, not only do I know all your skills inside and out, but your DNA and ki are cataloged in Gero's super computer, and are now mine to utilize. As are all of your friends'."

"_Gohan! Gohan, where are you?" _Gohan gasped as he heard a familiar, deep, heavy voice in his mind. He concentrated his thoughts, and responded.

"_Mr. Piccolo? Is that you?" _

"_Yes, Gohan. You should have finished your search hours ago! Where are you?" _

"_I'm pinned down by Android 21. I should be able to get free soon, but he has the dragon balls, and he's too powerful for me to…"_

"_Don't fight him then. Get out of there right away. Forget about the dragon balls!" _

"Well, now that I've figured out what these items are and what they do," said 21. "Now I no longer have any use for you." He turned the blade in his hand, holding it high over Gohan, who struggled to reach for his own weapon. He pulled the end of the hilt to him, grabbed it, and in one powerful strike, he batted off 21's attack, and knocked the katana in his leg free. He got to his feet, pulled a senzu from his pocket, and ate it, the wounds 21 inflicted healing instantly.

"You're not getting away!" 21 said sharply, thrusting his blade at Gohan, who grabbed his second weapon and with it and his own, he caught the sword used by 21, pushing each blade against his, until his katana suddenly snapped. 21's face turned absolutely livid and he charged at Gohan, who threw his extra katana at him, impaling him in the arm, then lunged at him, punching him in the eye and knocking him into a tree, which only pushed his blade further into his arm.

"You're going to wish you hadn't done that!" 21 snarled dangerously. Absolutely terrified and working on pure instinct at this point, Gohan snatched up one or two of the dragon balls and ran away as fast as he could, 21 hot on his tail.

"Come on!" Gohan told himself, horrified. "Go, go, GO!" He took off into the sky at such an alarming speed that he was completely lost to 21 the moment he did so.

"Don't think this is the last time we'll meet." said 21. Something small bumped his toe, and he looked down to see a circular white object at his feet. He picked it up and observed the green computer face. Two flashing yellow dots were on the edge of the screen, moving faster and further away from him. "So this is how you found them, is it?" He said, grinning with immense satisfaction. "How fascinating!"

**In the remnants of North City….**

Vegeta and his father, known now as Android 23, clashed on near equal terms, the saiyan king having a small, but obvious, level of dominance over his son, who despite being of lesser strength, had the wildest of grins on his face, confident, arrogant, as though he knew the outcome of this battle decades before it even happened.

A surprise ki blast from his father and he was blown wide open, an advantage the king took quick advantage of, only for his son to vanish before the punch could even be finished. He whirled around, blocking an attack from Vegeta.

"So, even as an android, you still maintain that saiyan skill?" He smirked. "The ability to grow stronger from your battle wounds. I seem to remember you being powerless to me last we met.

"And now you will perish by my hands!" 23 roared powerfully.

"Is that a fact?" Vegeta laughed. His hair turned bright gold, his eyes light green, his grin wilder. "You forget that I'm now a warrior of legendary power: A Super Saiyan! Your reign ends today. Mine begins now!" He vanished as he lunged at 23, who looked every which way for where his son would strike next. He raised his crossed arms to block a punch from Vegeta that, while he didn't lose his footing, made him slide back half a mile across the ground.

"It may take up too much power," 23 thought. "But it's my only chance." Flying high into the air, then abruptly plummeting to evade Vegeta, he opened his hand and a glowing white ball of energy hovered over his palm. "24! Get out of here now! I don't care where it is you go from here, just find somewhere safe!" Reluctantly, 24 obeyed, Vegeta paying him no regard as he flew away. 23 tossed the white ball into the air and clenched his fist, making the ball burst like a bright flare. His eyes turned red and his body grew larger and more muscular, growing dark hair all over, his face becoming more snout-like and monstrous.

"How could I have forgotten that you invented that technique." said Vegeta amusedly. "No matter." He raised a hand, which filled with sizzling, lightening-like energy, which he slammed into his chest. A massive, faceless figure now stood at near equal height to the giant gorilla that was Android 23, Vegeta floating behind where its face would have been. "This is the might of the true king!"

The gargantuans lunged at each other, their arms interlocked with one another's, and 23 belched a massive energy blast from his mouth, which Vegeta was unable to avoid. Power coursed through the lightning giant's body, forcing the giant ape back. He kicked 23 in the chest and formed an electric blue sword in his hand and ran at 23, who emitted a second mouth blast, which was split by Vegeta's sword.

Suddenly, several things happened at once; Vegeta severed 23's tail with his weapon, and 23 continuously beat Vegeta as he shrank, fur reseeding back into his skin. Vegeta returned each attack as the massive golem he resided in shrank as well. By the time both warriors were returned to their normal states, neither had the strength to stand, both exhausted from their battle and the use of their giant forms.

"This is it." Vegeta panted, walking at 23. "No more tricks." He powered down from his super saiyan state. "No more armor." He tore off what remained of his armor.

"Just hand-to-hand combat." 23 agreed, tossing the senzu ampoules aside and walking at the same crippled pace as his son. Their fists met with each other's face as they sped up further. Vegeta hit 23 in the chest with his other hand, blocked an incoming punch from 23, and hit him again near the shoulder. 23 shoved his boot into the side of Vegeta's head and grabbed him by the ankle, throwing him into the ground. Vegeta recovered from this impact and kicked 23 in the arm.

He stood and jumped back to evade a blow from 23, then charged blindly at him, blocking another attack, and in a loud, echoing roar, he dealt the final blow, decapitating King Black Tail.

Vegeta stood in pure awe, breathing heavily and unblinking as the head of the former saiyan king hit the ground, rolling a ways from its body, which collapsed hard upon the marred earth, blood flowing from where its head once was. For a while, everything was absolutely still and quiet. Then, as Vegeta's fatigue began to lift just slightly, he gave a wild grin, laughing. His laugh became louder, more manic as the truth finally ran through his head.

"At last, it is done!" He shouted. "At last, I have ascended! I, King Vegeta the 2nd, am now the most powerful being in the universe! No one is left to oppose me now! Not Freeza, not 'King Black Tail,' not even Kakarot!"

**To be continued….**


	11. Recovering for Storage

"Now I rightfully rule the universe, as I was always meant to!" Vegeta smirked complacently, sitting upon his stone-carved throne. "But wait... Kakarot..." He realized. For all the trouble he had caused, for all the people he killed, Kakarot was yet to have appeared. Every time the world was in peril, there was that do-gooder, Kakarot. But now, when the earth was in the most danger it had faced since Vegeta first came to earth with Nappa, when Vegeta expected his most worthy rival to appear, he was nowhere to be found, or even sensed.

"Where is he hiding...?" He mused. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to sense the low-level's energy. Without even opening his eyes, he threw his fist straight forward, hitting someone in the face. He opened his eyes to see Android 21 standing back up, gathering the dragon balls that had been strewn across the ground. "And what are you here for?" Vegeta demanded.

"You are the one who killed Android 23, better known as King Vegeta I." 21 stated.

"Yes? And what is a scrap of junk like you going to do about it?" Vegeta retorted. "Let me guess; you're here to avenge your fallen comrade? You didn't stand a chance against me last time, and if you plan to take me on now, you're only going to die, Android!"

"I've come to join you." said 21, placing his katana on the ground at the saiyan king's feet and kneeling before him. "Because my leader has fallen at your hands, I ask that you allow me to be your follower." Vegeta simply smirked with amusement.

"My follower, you say?" He smirked condescendingly. "And why should I trust you to follow me?"

"Because I am inferior." 21 answered simply. "And I'm not fit to lead even my own life."

"I see..." said Vegeta. Now that he remembered, 21 never seemed to act unless one of the others in his little band did first. It was impossible for someone like this to betray him. "Put down the dragon balls." He ordered.

Without even a second's hesitation, 21 placed all five of the magic orbs he carried at Vegeta's feet. "I have gathered the dragon balls for you to use as you see fit, King Vegeta II." He bowed.

"You're two short." Vegeta scoffed.

"Yes, but I do know where the other two are." 21 amended. "They are in the hands of Son Gohan, who..."

"Was he a kid or an adult?" Vegeta cut him off.

"Son Gohan is only a child, of course." 21 blinked, slightly confused. "Why...?"

"Perfect." Vegeta grinned. "Then I can erase that halfbreed from existence and attain immortality in once place. Where is he now?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I can find him." 21 answered, showing his king the dragon radar. "Would you like for me to retrieve them for you?"

"Yes. I have other matters to deal with myself." said Vegeta coldly. He took off without another word to his new servant.

* * *

"I'm here, Mr. Piccolo." Gohan panted, collapsing from exhaustion on the floor of the Lookout.

"Where's the android who attacked you?" Piccolo asked warily.

"I... don't know..." said Gohan, confused. "I thought he was chasing me...?"

"Never mind then. Do you know where your future self is?"

"Still with Toni, I think..." Gohan answered, ever more confused by the namekian's questions. "Wait, why?"

"Because I think I might know how to defeat the androids once and for all, but I need the Future Gohan to do it." Piccolo explained. "I was planning to use Shenlong to help us, but it seems as though that's out of the question at the moment, so we'll have to resort to something more... unusual. I'll explain later." He added to Gohan's inquiring expression.

"There seems to be little time to rest, Son Gohan." said Kami, observing the world below. "21 seems to be on his approach."

"No..." Gohan breathed, still tired from his flight to the lookout.

"Perfect." Piccolo smiled, tossing off his turban and cape, both making a loud crash as they hit the floor. "Just as I hoped he would."

"Huh?" Gohan blinked. Why was Piccolo so confident about fighting someone like 21?

"We already know that three of the androids have been killed." Piccolo explained. "Kami has a way of keeping almost too good of an eye on earth's people."

"Android 19 had fallen early on at the hands of Vegeta, and quite recently, 23 has also been killed by him," Kami added. "And before that, Tenshinhan had bested 22, or Tao, at the expense of his own life."

"Leaving only two left to worry about." Piccolo concluded. He had remembered the remorseful look and soft actions of 24 at the initial destruction the androids had caused. Now that there was no one left to hold him down, he was as good as free. "The first and most important of which being 21."

"Two?" Gohan repeated. "But Toni isn't..."

"You don't know that, Gohan!" Piccolo snapped. "She may have converted, but there's far more to her than we think! You and I both know that."

Gohan knew that Android 20, who went by Toni, was nothing short of a mystery compared to the other androids, but he had a hard time believing that she could still be a threat, or that she ever was one to begin with.

"21 has been following you ever since you left Mt. Paozu." said Piccolo. "Don't you wonder why that is?" Gohan thought about this matter, rather perplexed.

"Well, for the dragon balls, right?" He answered.

"He didn't know what they were until you said their name out loud. From all appearances, they seem interested in whoever has the highest power levels."

"But I thought their only objective was to kill dad? And wouldn't they be more opt to attack Vegeta than me?"

"I thought the same thing, but that doesn't seem to be entirely true." said Piccolo. "And you showed 21 your hidden powers when you fought previously, didn't you?" Gohan thought back to when he first fought the sword-wielding android.

"No, I didn't." Gohan shook his head. "But how could he have...?" He broke off, looking very alarmed. "Those trackers!"

"What?"

"When I fought 21 just a while ago, he said that every fighter of a notable power level has been watched by these... trackers that have fed every bit of information on those fighters to him." Gohan explained.

"Meaning every battle we've ever fought, every strategy we've used, he knows every single one of them." Piccolo grunted.

"And he told me they transmit more than just battle information." Gohan continued. "They also collect ki and DNA, and transmit it to Gero's supercomputer. They've already gathered data on everyone, I think. But, what use would things like our DNA be? What could they get from it?"

"Something nasty, I'm sure." said Piccolo.

"There's no need for either of you to know the purpose." 21 burst through the bottom of the lookout, creating a massive hole through it to the topside, where Piccolo and Gohan stood ready to fight. "Because soon enough, you'll both be dead, and the dragon balls you carry will belong to my new master."

"New master?" Gohan repeated, drawing his blade.

"King Vegeta II." 21 nodded, drawing his own weapon. "He's ordered me to reclaim the remaining dragon balls."

"Why would you take orders from Vegeta?" Piccolo asked.

"Because he was the one who killed my previous superior, the first King Vegeta." 21 answered simply. "So, with no others to lead me, who better than the successor to the Saiyan Throne. Now, Namek, give me the dragon balls and the boy, and I'll spare your life!"

"Go ahead." Piccolo grunted, stepping in front of Gohan and walking closer to 21, a smirk on his face. "Kill me. See how your new king will react when his hope of immortality is lost."

"Are you really so careless with your own life?" 21 sneered.

"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan gasped. He couldn't be serious. What would Piccolo have to gain from letting himself, Kami, and the dragon balls die? Then it hit him. This was his plan all along! He planned on 21 joining up with Vegeta, he knew how furious Vegeta would be at losing his wish, and he was counting on him killing 21 as a result! "No! Piccolo!" He screamed. He couldn't do this! There had to be a better way...

"How pathetic." 21 frowned. "This is it? A namek with a death wish and a weak child?" with one swift stroke, he severed Piccolo's head from his neck, Gohan feeling as though that sword had penetrated his chest as he watched the body of the namek he looked up to so much fall to the ground, his head hitting the ground with a sickening clunk, the lookout's floor drenched violet with his blood.

"You...!" Gohan growled angrily, eyes flooding with tears. "You want the dragon balls? HAVE THEM!" He hurled the magic spheres, now smooth, spherical rocks, at 21, who caught them in his free hand.

"How...?" the android muttered, blinking at the rocks. "Are these the dragon balls?" He remembered what the namekian had said, and understood now that it was no empty taunt.

"I will never forgive you!" Gohan growled, charging at 21, never desiring to kill another life form as much as he did now. "I won't...!"

"It's pathetic that the namek willingly gave his own life, and even more so that you mourn for him." 21 scoffed. "Those who choose to give their lives up never deserved to live."

"Shut up!" Gohan snapped, 21 blown off his feet as the boy's long hair suddenly flashed bright gold, before returning to its normal black.

"_What was that?" _21 thought. He cycled through his database, but found nothing to do with this strange surge of power.

He was caught off-guard as Gohan charged him, barely evading his attack, the side of his face slashed. Gohan gave him an onslaught of fast, almost impossible to even see attacks, most of which he found himself unable to block or evade, dozens of small cuts and gashes springing up almost randomly across his body.

"_Where the hell is he getting this power from? He's never shown this kind of strength before!" _

Gohan brought his sword straight down onto 21's head, who blocked the attack with his own weapon, but Gohan struck again, and again, and again in the same place, until both blades were shattered by his force. The infuriated demi-saiyan threw the hilt at 21, the jagged remains of the blade attached impaling him through the chest. He then struck 21, who blocked his punch effortlessly.

"Did you really think I would be helpless without my sword?" He sneered, kicking Gohan onto his back. "No, I didn't carry that sword to protect myself from others' attacks. I carried it to protect them from my own power. Those damned Red Ribbon scientists. They did everything they could think of to test me, to hold me down, to keep me from surviving. Those blades I carried were imbued with energy that suppressed my power. And destroying them was a big mistake." He shot skyward, charging ki into his hands. He thrust them downward at the lookout, and though nothing visibly fired from his hands, the entire lookout was obliterated, along with everyone and everything inside.

""At least I've eliminated the halfbreed. If he survived the blast, he couldn't survive the fall. But I can't return to King Vegeta. What can I do now?" He thought, knowing the consequences of his failure. He returned to the remnants of Dr. Gero's laboratory, knowing no other place to turn.

* * *

"I feel something... strange about this place..." 24 mused as he traversed the mountain side, not sure what it was that led him here. He was certain that 23 must have been destroyed by now at the hands of his son, and knew the only reason he was ordered to leave the vicinity of the battle was to be preserved, so that whoever else would lead the android troupe could make use of him, but since most if not all of the androids were already gone or about to be, 24 knew it was useless to stay among them, leaving him once more without a home.

He heard voices up ahead, and curiously followed them to find a small house situated comfortably near the top of the mountain. Three fighters, all donned in bright orange, took defensive stances as he approached, no doubt aware of who and what he was.

"I am not here to harm you." 24 stated aloud as he drew closer.

"You're..." Mirai of the group said.

"I am Android 24, yes. But I didn't come to kill Son Goku, if that's what you believe."

"I have a hard time believing that." Krillin scoffed.

"I don't know where the other androids are, nor do I wish to further their goals." said 24. "I don't know what brought me here, but I somehow feel belonging in this place."

"Belonging?" Yamcha blinked.

"I have been a subject of Dr. Gero's for many years, and ever since then, I have never once had a place where I belonged, where I could call a home. But somehow I feel as though this may be where I belong." 24 explained.

"Do you think we can trust him?" Yamcha asked in a low whisper to his partners.

"He seems okay, and Piccolo told me he thinks so too." Mirai nodded.

"Alright, but if he even looks at Goku wrong..." Krillin started.

"Son Goku is here?" 24 interjected. "Don't worry, I have no interest in harming him." He added to Krillin's shocked expression. "I will even protect him, should my comrades still seek his death."

"Alright then. Stand down, guys." said Mirai.

"Thank you." 24 smiled. "Do any of you know about the other androids' whereabouts?"

"I was actually hoping you could tell us." Mirai answered. "Yamcha told me that Tenshinhan's ki just vanished several hours ago, and it Vegeta seemed to be fighting not too long ago, but he's still present."

"So 23 has fallen, as I thought..." said 24. "And what of 20 and 21?"

"I can't sense androids' ki, so I don't know where the others are," Mirai replied. "But I do know that Toni, or 20, is gone. She said she wanted to 'find herself.' And I have no idea about 21."

"Wait!" Krillin gasped, concentrating. "Piccolo's and Gohan's ki, they're both gone!"

"And that means...!" Yamcha grunted, knowing that Kami and the dragon balls were gone too now.

"Should we go after him?" Krillin wondered.

"No. All we can do is wait. Let him come to use." Mirai shook his head. "We'll be ready for him when he finds us."

* * *

"I was wondering when you would run away to this place." Vegeta said, stone-faced as 21 set foot in Dr. Gero's laboratory. "Would you mind explaining THIS?" He threw a perfectly rounded stone at the android, who caught it, recognizing it instantly as an inert dragon ball.

"I didn't know their existence was linked to the namek." He answered.

"Unacceptable." Vegeta snapped. "whether or not you knew, you've still failed, and failure, especially failure of this level is intolerable. The Dragon Balls were essential to my plans, and you've gotten in my way long enough."

"Wait! I've killed the halfbreed as you've requested." 21 ammended.

"He was just a minor nuisance." Vegeta scoffed. "If you think that killing him was an impressive or important feat, you're sadly mistaken."

"Then... I understand." 21 conceded, knelling to the saiyan king. "Take my life, if you must." He had failed to survive, and now, like those thousands before him, his death was at hand.

Vegeta drove his fist through 21's chest, who made no indication of pain as this happened, and with a powerful blast through his torso, Android 21 fell to the ground, unmistakably dead.

"Now all that stands in my way is Kakarot." Vegeta smirked, flying off to continue his search for his greatest enemy.

Soon after Vegeta left the facility, a new figure walked among the wreckage. Upon finding 21's body, he announced over a communicator,

"Subject 21 located. Recovering for storage."

**To Be Continued...**

**Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long ^^ Hope the next update comes sooner than this did. **


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